Trump becomes first former US president to receive mug shot

ATLANTA: Donald Trump made the wrong kind of history after becoming the first current or former US president to get his mug shot taken.

Trump, 77, turned himself in at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta following his grand jury indictment while being booked over his attempts to reverse the 2020 election results in Georgia.

The charges include 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.

An unsmiling Trump – inmate no. P01135809, according to Fulton County Jail records – was captured glaring at the camera in the mug shot.

He wasted little time trying to turn it to his advantage, posting it on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, as well as his own social media site, Truth Social. His campaign website featured the mug shot along with a message from Trump defending his actions and asking for donations.

The X post appeared to be Trump’s first on the site since his account was banned after a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. X owner Elon Musk reinstated Trump’s account late last year.

https://t.co/MlIKklPSJT pic.twitter.com/Mcbf2xozsY

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2023

Trump spent only about 20 minutes at the jail before heading back to his New Jersey golf club. Before boarding his private plane, he repeated his claim that the prosecution – along with the others he faces – is politically motivated.

“What has taken place here is a travesty of justice,” he told reporters. “I did nothing wrong, and everybody knows it.”

Trump has already entered uncharted territory as the first former US president to face criminal charges, even as he mounts another campaign for the White House next year.

“Getting his mugshot taken was “not a comfortable feeling — especially when you’ve done nothing wrong,” he told a US media outlet hours.  “They insisted on a mugshot and I agreed to do that,” he added. “This is the only time I’ve ever taken a mugshot.”

The 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.

Eleven of his co-defendants already have been booked, according to authorities. Some, like Rudolph Giuliani were stone-faced in their mug shots, while others, such as lawyer Jenna Ellis, smiled for the camera. Court records showed that Mark Meadows, who served as Trump’s White House chief of staff, was processed at the jail.

Trump faces 13 felony counts in the Georgia case, including racketeering, which is typically used to target organized crime, for pressuring state officials to reverse his election loss and setting up an illegitimate slate of electors to undermine the formal congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 victory.