Georgia clerk says ‘mishap’ caused erroneous release of list of Trump charges

The clerk of the Fulton County, Georgia, court system acknowledged Tuesday accidentally releasing what appeared to be a list of criminal charges against Donald Trump before he was actually indicted, and sought to deflect blame amid mounting criticism from Republicans who have seized on the blunder to characterize the case as rigged. After refusing to explain what happened for more than a day after Reuters posted the document the media outlet said was published on the court’s website, clerk Che Alexander’s office said she was doing a “trial run” of the court’s filing system on Monday “in anticipation of issues that arise with entering a potentially large indictment.” Alexander’s office said that led to the docketing of “what appeared to be an indictment, but which was, in fact, only a fictitious docket sheet.” Reuters found the docket and reported on it Monday afternoon, hours before the grand jury returned the indictment charging Trump and 18 allies over efforts to subvert the 2020 election results. The clerk’s office said shortly after Reuters posted the document online that the clerk had “learned” of what it called a “fictitious document that has been circulated online.” When pressed about it later Monday, Alexander said she didn’t know “what else to say,” adding: “I haven’t seen an indictment, right? Trump legal team has already suggested it would claim prosecutorial misconduct, saying shortly after the document was posted that “this was not a simple administrative mistake,” but is “emblematic of the pervasive and glaring constitutional violations which have plagued this case from its very inception.” “The events that have unfolded today have been shocking and absurd, starting with the leak of a presumed and premature indictment before the witnesses had testified or the grand jurors had deliberated and ending with the District Attorney being unable to offer any explanation,” lawyers Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg said in a statement after the indictment was released. “In light of this major fumble, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office clearly decided to force through and rush this 98-page indictment.” Trump himself also seized on the issue to raise money for his 2024 presidential campaign, writing in an email before the indictment came down: “The Grand Jury testimony has not even FINISHED – but it’s clear the District Attorney has already decided how this case will end.” Legal experts had said the filing was likely a list of potential charges prosecutors were presenting to the grand jury ahead of Monday’s vote.