ATLANTA (CN) —The Georgia judge overseeing the election interference case against Donald Trump and his allies granted the former president a $200,000 bond on Monday.
Under the terms of the consent bond order, Trump is not allowed to perform any acts of witness intimidation or communicate directly or indirectly about facts of the case with any of the codefendants unless it is through his attorney.
He is also forbidden from making any “direct or indirect threat of any nature against the community or to any property in the community,” including in “posts on social media or reposts of posts” by others on social media.
The order was signed by Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee and Trump’s Atlanta-based attorneys Drew Findling, Marissa Goldberg and Jennifer Little.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who secured the sweeping racketeering indictment against Trump and 18 of his allies from a grand jury last week, gave the defendants until Friday at noon to surrender at the Fulton County jail for booking.
The former president faces 13 charges accusing him of participating in “a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in various related criminal activities” while trying to change the election results in Georgia and other states that they knew Trump had lost.
Four other defendants were also granted bond orders on Monday, including attorneys John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro and Ray Smith, as well as Scott Hall, an Atlanta bail bondsman who faces charges over an election data breach in Coffee County.
Each of those defendants is forbidden from intimidating other co-defendants or witnesses, or contacting them about the case other than through counsel. They are required to report for pre-trial supervision every 30 days, either by phone or by court appearance as directed, and cannot violate any other laws.
Eastman, one of Trump’s campaign attorneys, is out on $100,000 bond. His charges stem from his prominent involvement in developing pressure tactics that would force Pence to reject the official Democratic electors in Georgia and other swing states in favor of “alternate” Trump electors. The attorney also testified remotely before the Georgia Legislature that there was evidence of widespread election fraud.
He faces nine total charges including violating racketeering laws, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit filing false documents, filing false documents, solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree and conspiracy to commit false statements and writings.
Chesebro, another one of Trump's campaign attorneys, was granted bond of the same amount. He is accused of helping facilitate the plot to create the slate of “alternate” Republican electors in Georgia and across other states as well. In his Dec. 6, 2020, memorandum outlining the plan to “prevent Biden from amassing 270 electoral votes” — even though Biden had legitimately won more than that number — Chesebro even describes his legal theory as “bold” and “controversial."
The seven charges against Chesebro include violating state racketeering laws, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit filing false documents and two counts each of conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree and conspiracy to commit false statements and writings.
Atlanta-based lawyer Smith faces 12 similar charges, but the judge set his bond amount at just $50,000. Smith was among those present at the Dec. 14, 2020, meeting of Trump's electors in Atlanta, where he signed documents falsely claiming the former president beat Biden.
The lowest bond package went to Hall, who faces seven charges: violating state racketeering laws, conspiracy to defraud the state, conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, conspiracy to commit computer theft and conspiracy to commit election fraud.
Hall's role in the alleged criminal enterprise centers on his presence at the Coffee County elections office in rural Georgia on Jan. 7, 2021, where Atlanta tech company SullivanStrickler was given unauthorized access to voting equipment and copied confidential election data.
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