Trump and co-defendants in Georgia election case will be arraigned Sept. 6

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said Monday that former President Donald Trump will be arraigned on charges in the Georgia election case at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 6.

His co-defendants also will be arraigned that day.

Trump was charged with felony racketeering and numerous conspiracy counts as part of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ sweeping investigation into the effort by him and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in the battleground state.

Trump and 18 co-defendants, who also were charged with racketeering, were booked at the Fulton County Jail last week.

Booking and arraignment in criminal cases operate separately in Fulton County. The sheriff’s office noted that some arraignments may be virtual, as dictated by McAfee. It is unclear whether Trump’s arraignment will be in-person or virtual.

Following his surrender to Fulton County authorities last week, Trump was released from custody under agreed-upon conditions, including a $200,000 bond.

As part of the conditions, the former president is prohibited from doing anything a judge could interpret as an effort to intimidate co-defendants or witnesses or “otherwise obstruct the administration of justice.”

More specifically, Trump “shall make no direct or indirect threat of any nature” against any co-defendant, witness or victim, the community or property in the community, the bond order said.

“The above shall include, but are not limited to, posts on social media or reposts of posts made by another individual on social media,” it said.

Prior to Trump and his co-defendants’ surrender last week, Willis initially proposed a March 4 trial date preceded by arraignments the week of Sept. 5.

“In light of Defendant Donald John Trump’s other criminal and civil matters pending in the courts of our sister sovereigns, the State of Georgia proposes certain deadlines that do not conflict with these other courts’ already-scheduled hearings and trial dates,” Willis wrote in a court filing this month.

She said the proposed dates accounted for defendants’ needs to review discovery and get ready for trial “but also to protect the State of Georgia’s and the public’s interest in a prompt resolution of the charges for which the Defendants have been indicted.”