Sidney Powell Surrenders, Released on $100,000 Bond in Georgia Trump Case

Lawyer Sidney Powell departs a press conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, on Nov. 19, 2020. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

Sidney Powell has agreed to a $100,000 bond set Wednesday morning in the Fulton County, Georgia, case where she and 18 other co-defendants are accused of violating the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The case was brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis against former President Donald Trump for his efforts to challenge the Georgia general election results.

Ms. Powell served as an attorney on President Trump’s 2020 campaign and is accused of six conspiracy counts on top of racketeering. She surrendered on Wednesday at the Fulton County jail.

Co-defendant Misty Hampton, a local election official, had her bond set at $10,000 also on Wednesday.

Co-defendant Rudy Giuliani, who served as an attorney for President Trump, was seen arriving in Atlanta on Wednesday, heading to the courthouse to set bond before his announced surrender at the Fulton County jail.

All bond agreements included restrictions on what the defendants can communicate about the case; only their attorneys may communicate with other co-defendants or witnesses.

Ms. Powell’s bond agreement adds a condition that if she doesn’t turn herself in by noon on Friday, Aug. 25, “this consent bond order shall be null and void.”

Conspiracy Charges

Ms. Powell is accused of two counts of “conspiracy to commit election fraud,” one count of “conspiracy to commit computer theft,” one count of “conspiracy to commit computer trespass,” one count of “conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy,” and one count of “conspiracy to defraud the state,” citing her entering into a contract with data forensic firm Sullivan Strickler.

Ms. Powell is also accused of 12 acts of racketeering, which included actions like appearing at press conferences to help President Trump challenge election results and using a Coffee County, Georgia, computer with voter data on it.

In a similar case against President Trump brought by special counsel Jack Smith, the former president faces alleged conspiracy charges for contesting the 2020 election results. In the Washington indictment, Ms. Powell is listed, unnamed, as a co-conspirator who advanced arguments involving voting machines affecting election results.

Other Bonds Set in Georgia

Bond agreements have also been set with a number of other defendants.

In total, President Trump had his set the highest at $200,000, John Eastman at $100,000, Kenneth Chesebro at $100,000, Jenna Ellis at $100,000, David Shafer at $75,000, Cathleen Latham at $75,000, Stephen Lee at $75,000, Ray Smith III at $50,000, Robert Cheeley at $50,000, Michael Roman at $50,000, Shawn Still at $10,000, and Scott Hall at $10,000.

Attorneys Mr. Eastman, Mr. Chesebro, Mr. Smith, alternate electors Ms. Latham and Mr. Shafer, and Georgia bail bondsman Mr. Hall have been booked by the local Fulton County jail and released on bond.

President Trump is expected to arrive on Thursday afternoon, as he has posted on social media. Supporters of his are expected to arrive ahead of the GOP frontrunner to rally.

“Nobody has ever fought for election integrity like President Donald J. Trump. For doing so, I will proudly be arrested tomorrow afternoon in Georgia. God bless the United States of America!!!” he wrote.

“For the first time in three years, brave American Patriots will be able, in Court, to show how the Presidential Election of 2020 was RIGGED & STOLLEN. For those RINOS, Radical Left Democrats, Communists, Marxists, Fascists , & others who say, ‘Don’t Look Back, Look Forward,’ they either do not want to reveal the answers because they “got away with murder,” or are FOOLS & COWARDS because we now know the answers to all of the Fraud, Irregularities, & Cheating, & WE CANNOT LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!”

19 Defendants

The 98-page indictment brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charges 19 defendants with violating the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. In total, they are accused of 161 acts of racketeering, and 41 counts total.

The defendants are President Trump; attorney Rudy Giuliani; attorney Mr. Eastman; former chief of staff Mr. Meadows; attorney Mr. Chesebro; former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark; attorney Ms. Ellis; attorney Mr. Smith; attorney Mr. Cheeley; attorney Sidney Powell; alternate elector Ms. Latham; alternate elector Mr. Shafer; Illinois pastor Stephen Lee; vice president for the Black Conservative Federation Harrison Floyd; former publicist for Kanye West Trevian Kutti; bail bondsman Mr. Hall; Michael Roman; Shawn Still; and former elections official Misty Hampton.

The indictment alleges that all defendants illegally conspired to keep President Trump in office by knowingly making false statements about election fraud. President Trump himself faces 13 counts and 11 charges.

Americans Divided

According to a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll, 47 percent of Americans say the charges in Georgia are serious, 16 percent say they are somewhat serious, and a quarter of respondents did not think the charges were serious.

The poll also found that 49 percent thought he should have been charged with a crime in Georgia while 32 percent thought he should not have, and 50 percent thought he should suspend his campaign while 33 percent thought he should continue.

The Associated Press worked with NORC Center for Public Affairs Research on a similar poll and found voters were clearly divided on party lines: 85 percent of Democrats thought President Trump’s challenge of the election results in Georgia was illegal, and 57 percent of Republicans thought his actions were not illegal.

Similarly, 80 percent of Democrat respondents said his role in what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, was illegal, while 69 percent of Republicans said they were not illegal.

Ahead of the first Republican National Committee debate, which President Trump will skip to do an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson instead, an Iowa poll put him far ahead of the pack: 66 percent said their mind was made up that President Trump was their first choice candidate.

The poll surveyed Republicans who were likely to attend the caucuses in Iowa, and the majority also responded he was the rightful winner in the 2020 election.