Donald Trump fundraising email claims he was "tortured" in Georgia mugshot arrest

In a fundraising email sent on Monday, Former President Donald Trump's campaign criticized his treatment at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia, claiming he was "tortured" while having his mug shot taken.

The email, promoting coffee mugs featuring Trump's mug shot, is part of his ongoing efforts to raise funds for his electoral campaign.

The email stated,

"I want you to remember what they did to me. They tortured me in the Fulton County Jail, and TOOK MY MUGSHOT. So guess what? I put it on a mug for the WHOLE WORLD TO SEE!"

Last August, Trump surrendered to the Fulton County Jail as part of the conditions of his criminal indictment in Georgia, where he faces 13 charges related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. Upon his arrival in a presidential-style motorcade, Trump was booked, fingerprinted, and photographed, making him the first U.S. president to have a mug shot taken.

According to The Hill, this is not the first email seeking to use the mug shot for fundraising. A similar one was sent by the Trump campaign in May, also mentioning the claim of torture.

Trump has consistently used his arrest and mug shot to his advantage, quickly launching merchandise that includes T-shirts, mugs, koozies, and bumper stickers with his mug shot and the phrase "Never surrender."

According to The Guardian, it's not the first time Trump has invoked political prisoner imagery while facing felony charges, as he has compared himself before to Alexei Navalny, the late jailed Russian opposition leader who died mysteriously in a Siberian penal colony in February.

The case in Georgia is one of four ongoing criminal cases against Trump. The so called "hush-money trial" is took place last month in New York, resulting in a guilty verdict on all 34 counts of falsifying business records related to reimbursements for hush money payments made before the 2016 election.