The Georgia Indictment Mugshots: A Close Reading
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Conservatives from across the country who are accused of participating in a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election are flocking to the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta this week, as they approach their deadline for surrender. Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants have until Friday at noon to turn themselves in for arraignment.
A fun side effect of justice being prepared (if not yet served) in this case is a slew of low-def mugshots for some of this generation’s sleaziest, most treasonous attorneys and Republican Party officials. They are unflattering, they are rich with potential for schadenfreude, and if you print them out, they’d make a great game of Guess Who? for resistance Boomers.
But who managed to pose for the best mugshot so far? Let us assess.
Wearing the vacant gaze of the deeply hypnotized, paired with a white, collarless blouse, Powell looks like a member of the chain-smoking doomsday cult in The Leftovers being nabbed for a bout of domestic terrorism. Her forehead is placid and dewy; her grin is slack. Having been red-pilled against the deep state in the way of an internet-illiterate Boomer, Powell is a true believer. This mugshot is all part of Trump’s beautiful master plan. There is nothing to fear.
Is this sponcon? Ellis, who somehow, at 38, found her way into this geriatric criminal enterprise, has the blank, dutiful smile and drugstore makeup of a low-level influencer peddling personalized jewelry and tummy tea. It’s the look of a millennial whose primary question after stepping in major legal doo-doo is, “how will this fit into my personal brand?” On social media, Ellis has been sharing links to blog posts with headlines such as “Jenna Ellis absolutely ROCKS her Fulton County mugshot”; after the indictment was released last week, she tweeted a quote from a hymn about keeping the faith in dark times—“even so it is well with my soul”—rendered in an Etsy bridesmaid font. Print it on a prison mug!
America’s Mayor is the only indictee to have managed a vaguely threatening look in his mugshot. The barely raised eyebrow, the disappearing lips, the stooped posture, the craggy face, the eyes that have seen some things: He looks like a mobster, and because I am Italian-American, I can say that. Giuliani is telling prosecutors that if they’re not careful, he’ll send his goons all the way to Ritz Carlton HVAC Repair Services to give them the business. Unfortunately, they are already on their way to confiscate his American flag pin.
My dude is absolutely terrified. He’s already thinking about what demeaning nicknames he’ll incur on the cell block. (Cheese Bro is an obvious contender, but I’m sure the incarcerated community of Georgia can do better.) The man in this mugshot gets hives if he even thinks about loosening his tie; he passes out if someone tousles his hair. This photo has captured the fleeting moment of a poorly-lived life flashing before a set of eyes. Must have been a fast shutter speed.
Shafer has the shameless, self-satisfied smile of a bit player in conservative politics who has finally wormed his way into a national news story. It’s the face of a martyr who believes his sacrifice will be handsomely repaid in the afterlife by his creator (Trump). On the platform formerly known as Twitter, where Shafer has been retweeting pleas from various conservative institutions to donate to his legal defense fund, he made his mugshot his new profile picture. The day this photo was taken was the best day of his life, soon to be replaced by the day he is sentenced to prison for his service to Trump.
The most detailed likeness of a ghost ever captured, Latham’s mugshot is severely overexposed—to legal liability! Please clap. (And please donate to Fulton County’s GoFundMe for an upgraded point-and-shoot.) Latham is wearing the unmistakable expression of a person who thought the photographer was going to take the photo after counting to three, instead of on “three.” She’s still in denial, which explains why she wore a busy patterned blouse to her big photoshoot—a distracting choice—rather than something more refined. The justice system cares not for her flair.
Oy. The mugshot photographer must have had it out for this guy, who, in his photo, has the mien of a middle school math teacher who got busted for some truly heinous crime. Could no one have handed him a comb? Suggested he lift his chin? Advised him to shake off the arraignment jitters and relax a bit? Given him a dress shirt to wear? (Does the Fulton County Jail not have a closet full of spare sport coats, like they do at country clubs or whatever?) It’s a terrible photo, but on the other hand, at least it appears to show a little remorse.
Unlike Giuliani’s glower, Eastman’s glare does not contain the threat of bloodshed. Instead, it is a window into the ragged soul of a man whose brain is playing on a loop the words allegedly spoken to him by Trump adviser Eric Herschmann as Eastman tried overturn the 2020 election: “Get a great f-ing criminal defense lawyer. You’re going to need it.” Eastman’s photo is a striking example of the violence of bad lighting. As all the light in the photo shines in on one side of Eastman’s face, it creates what one of my colleagues dubbed a “Snapchat make-me-look-like-shit filter.”
Hall saw you from across the lobby of the Fulton County Jail, and he really likes your vibe. He is going to leer at you with that little smirk until you submit to an hour-long explanation of how China hacked into Nest thermostats to fix the 2020 election for Joe Biden, all while he envelops you in coffee breath. Hall’s hulking frame can’t even fit in the photo, but there’s something unnervingly coy about his expression. I believe the term “heebie-jeebies” was invented to describe the feeling it inspires.
Does…does Mark Meadows have pinkeye? Or has he been on a crying jag? Perhaps it’s just that Fulton County golden hour light, blazing in to accentuate every bulge and crevice on the defendants’ faces. Whatever it is, Meadows looks confident and determined to outmaneuver county District Attorney Fani Willis, but his ruddy skin and puffy eyes betray the turmoil within. He really, really did not expect to find himself here.
Floyd is big mad. The only defendant who didn’t get a bond agreement in advance, he will remain in Fulton County custody until further notice—and, in his mugshot, it shows. As the perpetrator of one of the weirdest alleged side crimes of this entire alleged conspiracy—he brokered a meeting between [checks notes] an election worker falsely accused of fraud and a one-time publicist to R. Kelly and Kanye West—Floyd looks like he thinks he deserved a better deal. C’mon, he’s got connections to royalty! (Donald Trump, and also a one-time publicist to R. Kelly and Kanye West!) Floyd’s squint says, “I full-on (allegedly) assaulted an FBI agent. And you’re holding me for booking a conference room?”
Overall, taking into account expression, wardrobe, lighting, and visible fealty to Trump, a clear winner emerges: Sidney Powell, the respectable lawyer–turned–RICO defendant. She’s not showy about it, but she is clearly enjoying the process—the notoriety, the victim complex, the lasting proximity to Trump. In this witch hunt, she is all too happy to burn.
