Trump Shakes Up Legal Team Ahead of Georgia Surrender

Supporters gather outside Fulton County Jail
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 24, 2023 9:58 AM CDT
Trump Shakes Up Legal Team Ahead of Georgia Surrender
Trump supporters and journalists gather near the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023.   (AP Photo/Ben Gray)

Donald Trump is expected to surrender to authorities in Georgia Thursday—and he'll be doing so with a new top lawyer on his legal team in the state. CNN reports that Trump has replaced Drew Findling with another high-profile Atlanta attorney, Steven Sadow. Findling negotiated Trump's $200,000 bond in the racketeering case along with Jennifer Little, who will remain on the former president's Georgia legal team. In a statement, Sadow confirmed that he had been retained to represent Trump in the Fulton County case. "The president should never have been indicted," Sadow said. "He is innocent of all the charges brought against him."

Findling, who uses the hashtag #BillionDollarLawyer on social media, was hired to represent Trump last August. According to CNN's sources, he's not being replaced because of his performance. For Trump, "abruptly reconfiguring his legal team is more of a feature than a bug," per the New York Times. The Times reports that Sadow is considered one of Atlanta's best criminal defense lawyers. Like Findling, he has represented several rappers and singers, with clients including TI, Rick Ross, and Usher.

The Washington Post reports that around 50 Trump supporters—and about an equal number of members of the media—were outside the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta at 8am, long before Trump was expected to appear to be booked on felony charges. Like other defendants, he will be fingerprinted and weighed, the Guardian reports. Unlike in his three previous indictments, he will also have his mugshot taken. Rudy Giuliani was among the co-defendants whose mugshots were released Wednesday. (More Georgia indictment stories.)

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