Rudy Giuliani turns himself in on 2020 election charges as Donald Trump plans to follow suit

ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore reports on the former New York mayor turning himself in on charges related to attempting to overthrow the 2020 election

Rudy Giuliani has turned himself in at a jail in Atlanta on charges related to efforts to overturn then-President Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Trump has said he plans to follow suit after he, the former New York mayor, and 17 others were indicted last week.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said they participated in a wide-ranging conspiracy to subvert the will of the voters after the Republican president lost to Democrat Joe Biden in November 2020.

Bond for Giuliani, who was released after booking like the other defendants, was set at $150,000 (£118,000), second only to Trump’s $200,000 (£157,000).

Giuliani, 79, is accused of spearheading Trump’s efforts to compel state lawmakers in Georgia and other closely contested states to ignore the will of voters and illegally appoint electoral college electors favorable to Trump.

Other high-profile defendants also surrendered Wednesday, including Jenna Ellis, an attorney who prosecutors say was involved in efforts to convince state lawmakers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors.

As did lawyer Sidney Powell, accused of making false statements about the election in Georgia and helping to organise a breach of voting equipment.

Georgia was one of several key states Trump lost by slim margins, prompting the Republican and his allies to proclaim, without evidence, that the election was rigged in favor of his Democratic rival Biden.

Giuliani is charged with making false statements and soliciting false testimony, conspiring to create phony paperwork and asking state lawmakers to violate their oath of office to appoint an alternate slate of pro-Trump electors.

Outside the Fulton County Jail Wednesday afternoon, Giuliani laughed when asked if he regretted allying himself with Trump.

“I am very, very honored to be involved in this case because this case is a fight for our way of life," Giuliani told reporters.

"This indictment is a travesty. It’s an attack on - not just me, not just President Trump, not just the people in this indictment, some of whom I don’t even know – this is an attack on the American people."

Trump, the early front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, has said he plans to turn himself in at the Fulton County Jail on Thursday.

It would be Trump’s fourth surrender since April, when he became the first former president in US history to face indictment. 

This time Trump faces 13 charges, all related to his actions after Joe Biden won the presidency in 2020.

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