First Thing: Donald Trump surrenders in Georgia on charges he sought to overturn 2020 election
Prosecution is fourth criminal case against Trump since March, and his booking included a mugshot. Plus, the story behind a fake football school
Good morning.
Donald Trump surrendered at the Fulton county jail yesterday evening on racketeering and conspiracy charges over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state of Georgia, where he was processed as any criminal defendant and had his mugshot taken.
When will the trial begin? In a clear sign of the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis's belief that her team is ready to go to trial immediately, she asked for the trial of all 19 defendants to start on 23 October after one of the co-defendants, Trump's former lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, apparently gambled and requested a speedy trial.
Will the trial harm Trump politically? It would be a mistake to assume that the mugshot and the spectacle of Trump's surrender at jail will harm Trump politically, writes Sam Levine. It is likely to entrench support more deeply from those who back Trump and believe he is being persecuted. As both a candidate and president, Trump has made the politics of grievance, the feeling of being persecuted and wronged, central to his political identity. Trump is already using his indictments to rally his supporters.
What caused the plane to crash? An explosion onboard probably brought down the plane presumed to be carrying the Wagner leader, a preliminary US intelligence assessment concluded. US and western officials said it determined Prigozhin was very likely" to have been targeted and that the explosion was in line with Putin's long history of trying to silence his critics".
What else is happening? Volodymyr Zelenskiy said early this morning he spoke with Joe Biden. Ukraine's president said he thanked Biden for his Ukraine Independence Day greetings and support in the conflict with Russia. Together, we prove that freedom and independence are worth fighting for," he said in a statement. The US will begin flight training for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets in October, the Pentagon has announced.
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