Just a few hours after a Georgia judge mentioned that the former President, Donald Trump, and 18 others are set to appear in court next week for the Georgia election case, something happened. One of the accused, Ray Smith, who worked as a lawyer representing Trump in Georgia back in 2020, made his first move. He said he’s innocent. This happened on Monday when he officially stated in a court document that he’s not guilty. Also, he decided to skip the formal process that was supposed to happen on September 6.
Now, Smith is in some serious trouble because he, along with Trump and 17 others, got accused of doing something wrong. They’re being blamed for trying to mess with the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. Smith himself is facing 12 different charges. These include things like trying to get public officials to break their promises, making false statements, and even plotting to create fake documents. There’s also a charge under something called the Georgia RICO Act, which is about stopping organized crime. Plus, they say he tried to pretend to be a public officer.
A little while ago, Smith turned himself in, and then he was allowed to go home after paying a $50,000 bond. His lawyer, Amanda Clark Palmer, said in a document filed on Monday (which was first reported by CNN) that they’re expecting Smith won’t need to show up in court for the scheduled process. But Amanda didn’t say anything else when asked for a comment that Monday night.
A judge declared on Monday that Trump, along with his friend Rudy Giuliani and some other folks who supported him, need to show up for their arraignment on September 6. They’re supposed to appear one by one in 15-minute slots. According to the plan, Trump is set to show up at 9:30 in the morning. But we don’t know yet if he’s actually going to the court in person or if it’s going to happen online.