Georgia court website posts, removes docket of potential Trump charges in 2020 election probe
Atlanta prosecutors appeared Monday to inadvertently reveal the offenses with which they plan to charge former President Donald Trump in connection with his bid to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia.
A two-page docket obtained by Reuters that was briefly posted and then removed from the Fulton County court’s website showed the 77-year-old potentially facing 13 counts — including violation of the Peach State’s anti-racketeering law, conspiracy, false statements and asking a public official to violate their oath of office.
More than four hours after the docket was posted, the Fulton County Clerk’s office issued a statement warning of a “fictitious document that has been circulated online and reported by various media outlets”.
“[A]ll members of the media should be reminded that documents that do not bear an official case number, filing date, and the name of the Clerk of Courts, in concert, are not official filings and should not be treated as such,” the statement went on.
A grand jury convened by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis met Monday, with an announcement on potential charges against the former president and his allies expected as soon as Tuesday.
Any counts brought against Trump would have to be voted on by the grand jury.
“The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office has once again shown that they have no respect for the integrity of the grand jury process,” Trump attorneys Drew Findling and Jennifer Little said in a statement. “This was not a simple administrative mistake. A proposed indictment should only be in the hands of the District Attorney’s Office, yet it somehow made its way to the clerk’s office and was assigned a case number and a judge before the grand jury even deliberated. This is emblematic of the pervasive and glaring constitutional violations which have plagued this case from its very inception.”
Among the witnesses who testified Monday were two former Democratic state lawmakers who took part in a December 2020 hearing at which Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani claimed widespread election fraud had cost his client re-election.
“On Dec. 10, 2020, when Rudy Giuliani and the former President’s legal team appeared before the Georgia House of Representatives, I upheld my oath [of office] and told the truth in the face of false testimony about our elections,” one of those former legislators, Bee Nguyen, said in a statement following her testimony.
“Today, I reaffirmed our allegiance to our State and country — by exercising my patriotic duty as a US citizen and telling the truth under oath.”
At least two witnesses who were scheduled to testify Tuesday, including former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, were called in Monday afternoon as the panel appeared to be finishing its work ahead of schedule.
Earlier Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social that Duncan “shouldn’t” take part in the proceedings, calling him “a nasty disaster” and a “loser.”
Over the weekend, CNN reported that prosecutors have obtained communications tying Trump’s legal team — including former New York City Mayor Giuliani — to an unlawful Jan. 7, 2021, “breach of election systems in Coffee County.”
Willis’ nearly two-year-long investigation was triggered by a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call from Trump to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which the then-president stressed the need to “find 11,780 votes,” enough to reverse his loss to Joe Biden.
Trump has vehemently denied wrongdoing.
An indictment out of Georgia would be the fourth issued against the former president in under five months.
Trump has also been indicted on four federal counts for alleged 2020 election subversion, 40 federal counts for alleged classified national security document hoarding, and 34 counts out of Manhattan for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal hush-money payments.