Trump becomes first US president in history to receive mug shot

Former President Donald Trump made the wrong kind of history Thursday, becoming the first current or former US president to get his mug shot taken while being booked at an Atlanta jail over his attempts to reverse the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Trump, 77, turned himself in to authorities at the Fulton County Jail following his grand jury indictment Aug. 14 on charges including racketeering, conspiracy, false statements and asking a public official to violate their oath of office.

He was released on a $200,000 bond and agreed to an order limiting his ability to post on social media about witnesses or co-defendants in the case.

Trump attorney Alina Habba said earlier this month that the decision to snap a mug shot of the former president was “a bit of an ego trip” on the part of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

“The purpose of a mug shot is when you don’t recognize someone, you think there’s a flight risk,” Habba told Fox News. “This man is the most famous person in the world, the leading [Republican] candidate right now.”

The 41-count indictment also charged 18 other Trump allies and supporters, including attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and Kenneth Chesebro — all of whom surrendered this week for booking.

The lawyers were joined by GOP poll watcher Scott Hall, former Coffee County GOP chair Cathy Latham, former Georgia state Sen. David Shafer and Georgia lawyer Ray Smith.

Bonds were set at $100,000 for Eastman, Powell, Ellis and Chesebro; $75,000 for Latham; $75,000 for Shafer; and $50,000 for Smith.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and Trump’s 2020 Election Day director of operations Michael Roman were also indicted but have yet to turn themselves in.

Meadows and Clark petitioned for their surrender to be postponed until a separate request that the case be moved to federal court is heard.

US District Court Judge Steven Jones denied both requests on Wednesday.

The other co-defendants — which include attorneys Ray Smith, Robert Cheeley, Shawn Still; Illinois pastor Stephen Lee; former Black Voices for Trump executive director Harrison Floyd; former Kanye West publicist Trevian Kutti; and former Coffee County official Misty Hampton — have until Friday at noon to surrender.

Willis has requested a March 4, 2024, trial date for the case.

All 19 defendants were charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, a version of a statute Giuliani used to bring down members of the mob while a federal prosecutor in the 1980s.

The Georgia indictment is the fourth brought against the 45th president so far this year, following federal cases over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Washington, DC, and his alleged mishandling of classified documents in South Florida.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg also indicted Trump for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election in order to silence her about an alleged decade-old affair.