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Former President Donald Trump posted a four-sentence statement in response to the arrest of his former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, in Fulton County, Georgia.
Giuliani on Wednesday turned himself in to authorities in Atlanta, as the former New York City mayor faces charges in the racketeering case in Georgia, accused of helping Trump and 17 others overturn the state's 2020 presidential election results. Giuliani's bond was set at $150,000.
Giuliani served as Trump's attorney during the aftermath of the 2020 election and was a major voice behind the former president's false claims that his loss to President Joe Biden was rigged. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Giuliani with 13 counts, including violating the state's RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act.
"The greatest Mayor in the history of New York City was just ARRESTED in Atlanta, Georgia, because he fought for Election Integrity," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social account Wednesday. "THE ELECTION WAS RIGGED & STOLLEN [sic]. HOW SAD FOR OUR COUNTRY. MAGA!"
Trump and Giuliani are facing the most charges in the 41-count indictment—the former president has also been handed 13 counts, including a RICO charge. Other defendants from Willis' investigation include Mark Meadows, Trump's former White House chief of staff, and several close allies to the former president. Attorney Sidney Powell also surrendered to Atlanta authorities on Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege that the former president and co-defendants devised a plan to submit false electors to illegally declare Trump the winner in Georgia in 2020. Willis in May granted immunity to eight of the 16 suspected fake electors. Trump has also been accused of enacting a similar scheme in six other states, including Michigan, where 16 people are facing charges.
Willis' investigation also focused on a phone call that Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in January 2021, during which the former president asked him to "find" enough votes in order for him to win the state.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that his questioning of the 2020 election was legitimate and that he and his allies did not break any laws. He has also asserted that the myriad criminal charges against him were a form of election interference in light of his 2024 reelection campaign.
After being released, Giuliani was asked by reporters outside the courthouse if he regretted tying himself to Trump in the Georgia case, to which the attorney replied, "I'm very, very honored to be involved in this case because this case is a fight for our way of life."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign team via email Wednesday evening for comment.
About the writer
Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more