The Clerk of Courts Office in Fulton County, Georgia has now admitted to accidentally uploading an indictment document against former President Donald Trump prior to a grand jury ruling on Monday. Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts Ché Alexander told local media that the premature publication came as a result of pressure to ensure that the indictment process went smoothly.
As Valuetainment reported on Monday, a list of charges against former President Trump briefly appeared on the website of the Fulton County court, then suddenly disappeared after a short time. At this point, the grand jury assessing the case had not yet returned a ruling. The published two-page document showed that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was pursuing charges of violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, conspiracy to commit filing false documents, and more.
Hours after the document began to gain media attention, the Fulton County Court pulled it from the website and called it a “fictitious document,” stating that “all 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 considered official filings and should not be treated as such.”
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Though additional witness testimony had been scheduled through Tuesday, the grand jury submitted a ruling late on Monday night, charging Trump and 18 associates with a number of crimes related to their efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. An official 98-page filing of the charges was included in the announcement.
Amid the breaking news of the official indictment, the court did not provide an official explanation for how the document leaked in the first place.
But on Wednesday, Ché Alexander, Fulton County’s Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts, admitted that the upload was a simple administrative mistake. According to Alexander, the document was a “dry run” or “work sample” for the real indictment that would be posted shortly after.
“I did a work sample in the system. And when I hit save, it went to the press queue,” Alexander told local outlet WSB-TV.
“I am human, and that’s how the mishap happened,” she continued, stressing that the upload was not politically motivated and had not been done at the request of DA Willis’ office.
A statement from the Clerk of Courts Office further acknowledged the “confusion that this matter caused” and reaffirmed its commitment to “operating with an extreme level of efficiency, accuracy, and transparency.”
However, this explanation has proven insufficient for those in Trump’s camp that see the document leak as grossly negligent. The former president’s attorneys argued that this further proves the political nature of the prosecution, stating that the DA’s office has “once again shown that they have no respect for the integrity of the grand jury process.”
A trial date for Donald Trump and his associates has not yet been determined, though Willis has proposed March 4, 2024—one day before the politically important Super Tuesday.
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