- Harrison Floyd was being held in the Fulton County Jail for the second straight day Friday night after Judge Emily Richardson denied him bail
- Floyd, one of 19 co-defendants in Donald Trump’s case of attempting to overthrow the Georgia election, told the judge he couldn’t afford a lawyer
- Floyd was denied representation by a public defender because he was not qualified: Richardson considered him at risk of absconding and therefore sent him into custody
One of Donald Trump’s co-defendants spent a second night in the Fulton County Jail on Friday after telling the court he could not afford a lawyer and that he was at risk of absconding and was denied bail.
Harrison Floyd, a former US Marine and mixed martial artist, is accused of participating in a scheme to pressure a poll worker into falsely admitting voter fraud.
He turned himself in at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta on Thursday, but unlike the other 18, the bail-setting process was derailed by his arrest in Maryland in May on charges of assaulting FBI agents who tried to serve a subpoena on him , difficult.
He spent Thursday night in the notorious prison and appeared before Judge Emily Richardson via video link on Friday to ask her to release him without posting bail.
Harrison Floyd’s mug shot was taken Friday while he turned himself in. He spent Thursday and Friday nights in the Fulton County Jail. Floyd appeared virtually before Judge Emily Richardson on Friday. Floyd appeared from prison via video link on Friday, but the judge refused to release him
Floyd told the judge that hiring a private attorney for the flight to Georgia typically cost between $40,000 and $100,000.
“I can’t afford a lawyer for something like this,” he said, telling Richardson that he didn’t want to put his family in debt.
Richardson told Floyd that he could either hire an attorney or represent himself.
It wasn’t immediately clear why Floyd was told he couldn’t be represented by a public defender.
In general, defendants must meet certain financial requirements in order to qualify.
Floyd is accused of pressuring poll worker Ruby Freeman into confessing to voter fraud crimes she did not commit. He was allegedly working with Trevian Kutti, a former publicist for Kanye West, who is also accused of making Trevian Kutti beam in her mug shot taken on Friday. Floyd (left) speaks with Republican activists Paris Dennard (center) and Kamilah Prince (right) in 2020.
Who Surrendered in the Fulton County Jail?
donald trump: former president – surrendered on Thursday
Rudy Giuliani: former Trump attorney – surrendered Wednesday
John Eastman: Lawyer – passed on Tuesday
Mark Meadows: former Trump chief of staff – surrendered on Thursday
Kenneth Chesbro: former Trump campaign attorney – surrendered Wednesday
Jeffrey Clark: former Justice Department official – handed over on Friday
Jenna Ellis: former member of Trump legal team – surrendered on Wednesday
Ray Smith III: The attorney who represented Trump in the 2020 Georgia election challenges – revealed Wednesday
Robert Cheley: Atlanta attorney – surrendered Friday
Michael Roman: former Trump aide – surrendered Friday
David Shaffer: a fraudulent 2020 Republican voter and former leader of the Republican Party of Georgia — surrendered Wednesday
Shawn Still: one of the fraudulent voters of 2020 and current member of the Georgia Senate – surrendered Friday
Stephen Lee: an Illinois police chaplain – surrendered Friday
Harrison Floyd: Executive director of Black Voices for Trump – surrendered Thursday, in jail overnight
Trevian Kutti: a Chicago-based publicist who represented Kanye West – revealed Friday
Sydney Powell: former member of Trump legal team – surrendered on Wednesday
Cathy Latham: one of the fraudulent voters of 2020 and former chair of Georgia’s Coffee County Republican Party – revealed Wednesday
Scott Hall: a Fulton County 2020 Republican election observer – revealed Tuesday
Misty Hampton: former Coffee County Election Commissioner – surrendered Friday
Floyd remains in the Fulton County Jail, which the US Department of Justice is investigating for violence and unsanitary conditions, as well as 15 inmate deaths over the past year.
One of them was a man whose family filed a lawsuit claiming he was “eaten alive” by bed bugs.
Floyd had claimed he was not at risk of absconding, but was told that bail would ultimately be decided by Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the case.
“There are reasons to refuse bail at this point,” Richardson said.
“I will go ahead and determine that you are at risk of committing further crimes and at potential risk of fleeing jurisdiction.”
“So I’m going to decline bail, but a full bail check is being addressed.”
All 18 other defendants in the case were released after posting bail, documents show.
Trevian Kutti, a former publicist for Kayne West, and Stephen Lee, an Illinois police chaplain, were the last two to surrender.
Bail amounts range from $200,000 for Trump to $150,000 for former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to $10,000 for Misty Hampton, a former elections commissioner in a rural Georgia county accused of tampering with voting machines.
One of those defendants, attorney Sidney Powell, petitioned the court on Friday for her trial to begin no later than November 3, as permitted by Georgian law.
She was the second of 19 to request a speedy trial: Kenneth Chesebro, believed to be the architect of the plan to persuade Mike Pence to withhold confirmation of the January 6 election, is also exercising his right to a speedy trial made.
Fani Willis, the district attorney, originally proposed a March 4 trial date for all 19 defendants, including Trump.
But McAfee agreed to a separate trial for Chesebro on Oct. 23, who, like Powell, had asked for an earlier date.
Trump’s legal team has not yet proposed a trial date.
Floyd’s appearance comes after a momentous day when Trump’s prison mug shot was released.
Trump, 77, was captured looking at the camera in the first photograph of a former president in US history – another extraordinary moment for the front runner for the Republican nomination in 2024.
After spending about 20 minutes in jail Thursday night, Trump reiterated claims that Willis’s prosecution — like others against him — was politically motivated.
“What happened here is a travesty of justice,” he told reporters. “I didn’t do anything wrong, and everyone knows it.”
All 19 of the accused have since surrendered in the Fulton County jail and all but Floyd have been released
One of the latest defendants to surrender, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, turned himself in early Friday and was released on $100,000 bail, records say.
Trump has yet to plead in the Georgia case.
He has pleaded not guilty to two federal lawsuits alleging plotting to overturn the 2020 election and keeping classified documents after leaving office, and a New York state case involving hush money payments to a porn star.
Far from harming his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination, the four lawsuits filed against him have only boosted his standing.
In the Republican race for challenger Biden in the November 2024 elections, he is clearly ahead in the polls.
