The click of the camera echoed throughout history as Donald Trump became the first former US president to take a mugshot, as his cold gaze cemented itself in the public records and the internet forever. Trump’s mugshot is ready to be printed in history books, and it has already been printed on t-shirts, coffee mugs, and more by Trump’s campaign. He also posted his mugshot on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the first time since 2020 with a caption of “NEVER SURRENDER” under the photo. So, as Trump and his campaign proudly share this striking image, what is the context for a former US president to be in this position? 

      On January 2, 2021, Trump called the Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger. During this 67 minute call, Trump made various claims of voter fraud to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Trump brought up various false allegations during the call, such as suitcases with 18,000 ballots for Joe Biden being transported to Georgia, around 5,000 dead people voting in Georgia, and that “they dropped a lot of votes in there late at night,” according to Trump in this conversation. 

     During the call, Trump also encouraged Raffensperger to “find” votes for him to win Georgia, allegedly asking Raffensperger to violate his oath of office. In Trump’s words, “…find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won this state.” 

     A month after this call was released, Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, began to investigate further into Trump and his allies.

     On August 14, 2023, Willis’ investigation led to Trump and 18 of his allies, including Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, being indicted – with 13 felony counts for Trump, which include:

• Racketeering 
• Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer
• Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer
• Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree
• False Statements and Writings
• Filing False Documents

     The 98-page indictment outlines how Trump and his co-defendants have been attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, and 18 of the defendants have so far pleaded not guilty (one defendant pleading guilty on Sept. 29). Some of the events that Trump’s charges stem from are the call with Raffensperger (mentioned earlier), a fake electors plot*, soliciting a (now former) Georgia House Speaker, and a letter requesting to investigate voter fraud to Raffensperger nearly a year after the election. Willis gave Trump and his allies until noon of August 25, 2023, to voluntarily surrender at the Fulton County Jail, and Trump surrendered the night of August 24 and took the historic mugshot.  

    While the trial has not been set yet, and this case is still ongoing, Trump’s fourth indictment and mugshot have left a permanent mark on history and his reputation, as the 2024 presidential election looms ahead. 

*Fake electors plot: the alleged scheme of fake electoral college votes to overturn the 2020 presidential election