Last member of Fulton 19 charged in 2020 election racketeering gets bond to be released from jail

By: - August 29, 2023 5:08 pm

Former President Donald Trump and 18 other defendants charged in the Fulton County case are being booked at the Fulton County Jail. Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder

This story was updated on Wednesday 11:23 a.m. following Harrison Floyd being released from jail. 

A co-defendant in Georgia’s sweeping 2020 election interference investigation was released from Fulton County jail on Wednesday morning after spending seven days behind bars, according to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office inmate database.

Harrison William Floyd, director of Black Voices for Trump support group, was released from the Atlanta jail after posting $10,000 cash or property collateral ahead of a previously scheduled bond hearing on Thursday. On Tuesday, Floyd’s attorney negotiated a $100,000 bond with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and Fulton County Superior Court based on three criminal charges: racketeering and conspiracy, and influencing a witness and solicitation to make false statements and writings.

Floyd was the only one out of 18 defendants to spend time in custody on felony charges of allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election. 

The headline defendant in the probe led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is former Republican President Donald Trump, who faces 13 felony counts including racketeering and conspiring to influence state officials to reverse his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden. Floyd, a former U.S. Marine and mixed martial arts fighter, is accused of pressuring Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman to falsely admit to committing voting fraud while counting absentee ballots at State Farm Arena following the Nov. 3, 2020 general election.

In a virtual court hearing on Friday, he told Fulton County Superior Court Judge Emily Richardson that he could not afford an attorney and could not risk putting his family in debt. Richardson at that time cited a federal criminal charge as a reason for not letting him bond out at the time.

Floyd was charged with misdemeanor simple assault on Feb. 23, while two FBI agents attempted to serve him a subpoena at his home related to the Department of Justice’s investigation into Trump’s and allies’ attempts to overturn the 2020 election. 

Floyd is accused of bumping his chest and jamming his finger into the face of an FBI investigator while screaming obscenities about them bothering him in his Maryland apartment, according to his criminal complaint.

During Friday’s hearing, Floyd told Richardson that he was cooperating with authorities in both cases, and that he arrived at the Fulton jail before Trump’s arrival. 

“The charge is a simple misdemeanor m’am,” Floyd said last week. “I got on a plane. I voluntarily came here.”

In his LinkedIn profile, Floyd lists his occupation as an entrepreneur. His resume, which includes more than 15 years specializing in crisis management, government and political campaigns while working on Capitol Hill, a presidential campaign, and for the Marine Corps.

Floyd’s 18 co-defendants negotiated bond agreements with the district attorney’s office and superior court before turning themselves in. Trump’s bond amount was $200,000 and he posted $20,000, or 10% of that sum, within an hour of arriving at the jail on Thursday evening.

The next highest bond amount of $100,000 was for members of Trump’s inner circle that included former Department of Justice official Jeffery Clark and Trump personal and campaign attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis and John Eastman. A bond of $75,000 or less would be set for the remaining defendants, such as former Georgia GOP chairman David Shafer and state senator Shawn Still. 

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Stanley Dunlap
Stanley Dunlap

Stanley Dunlap has covered government and politics for news outlets in Georgia and Tennessee for the past decade. The Georgia Associated Press Managing Editors named Stanley a finalist for best deadline reporting. The Tennessee Press Association honored him for his reporting on the disappearance of Holly Bobo.

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