WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Former President Donald Trump is preparing to turn himself in to a Georgia jail on Thursday in connection with a case that accuses him of election interference. 

Several of his co-defendants already have surrendered. Among them is former U.S. attorney Rudy Giuliani, who was booked at the Fulton County Jail on Wednesday. 

“I’m fighting for justice. I have been from the first moment I represented Donald Trump, an innocent man, who has now been proven innocent several times,” Giuliani said. 

Giuliani was defiant ahead of the surrender, insisting he and his co-defendants did nothing wrong. Prosecutors allege they illegally tried to overturn the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. 

“They’re dishonest, they’re crooked, they want to destroy the Constitution of the United States, and they’re doing it,” Giuliani said. 

Former Trump Attorney John Eastman was also among the other co-defendants who surrendered this week. 

“My legal team and I will vigorously contest every count of the indictment in which I have been named,” Eastman said. 

As the former president deals with his legal troubles, his rivals are preparing for the Republican presidential debate on Wednesday night. 

Congressman Chip Roy is criticizing Trump for deciding to skip it. 

“You know what I think leadership is? Actually showing up to the debate, and Ron DeSantis is here, and he’s going to be pointed at by everybody else on that stage while someone else is hiding in the basement,” Roy said. 

Congressman Matt Gaetz says the former president has nothing to prove. He says Trump’s plan to surrender at the Fulton County Jail on Thursday will smother debate coverage. 

“Certainly, President Trump would rather not be indicted than be indicted, but if you’re going to have to pay the piper you might as well dance. And there’s no master of political timing quite like President Trump,” Gaetz said. 

Instead of the debate, Trump sat down for an interview with Tucker Carlson. That’s scheduled to air at the same time as the debate on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.