Georgia court website briefly publishes, removes document about potential Trump charges
A document briefly posted on after which taken down from the official Fulton County, Georgia court website reveals a listing of potential felony charges in opposition to former President Donald Trump, after being downloaded by Reuters shortly earlier than the court took the document again down with out rationalization, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. August 14, 2023. …
Aug 14 (Reuters) – The Fulton County, Georgia, court’s website briefly posted a document on Monday itemizing a number of legal charges in opposition to former U.S. President Donald Trump that appeared associated to his makes an attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat within the state, earlier than taking the document down with out rationalization.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s workplace mentioned in an announcement that no charges had been filed in opposition to Trump.
The document was dated Aug. 14 and named Trump, citing the case as “open,” however is not accessible on the court’s website. Reuters was not instantly capable of decide why the merchandise was posted or eliminated.
“The Reuters report that those charges were filed is inaccurate. Beyond that we cannot comment,” a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s workplace mentioned.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination to problem Democratic President Joe Biden, has been criminally indicted thrice up to now this yr, together with as soon as by U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith on charges of attempting to overturn his election defeat.
He has lengthy dismissed the various investigations, together with two impeachments, he has confronted in his years in politics as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
The Fulton County court clerk’s workplace in an announcement mentioned no paperwork had been filed on Monday associated to the grand jury that has been listening to proof within the case.
The workplace described what it referred to as “a fictitious document that has been circulated online” with out specifying whether or not it was the one itemizing legal charges in opposition to Trump. A spokesperson for the clerk didn’t reply to a request for additional element.
A Georgia prosecutor, District Attorney Fani Willis, has been probing whether or not Trump and his allies illegally sought to overturn the state’s 2020 election outcomes and has been anticipated to hunt an indictment from a grand jury this week.
If Trump is charged in Georgia, it could mark his fourth indictment in lower than 5 months, and the second to come up from his efforts to overturn his loss within the 2020 presidential election.
Trump’s attorneys mentioned the episode was “not a simple administrative mistake.”
“This is emblematic of the pervasive and glaring constitutional violations which have plagued this case from its very inception,” attorneys Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg mentioned in an announcement.
Charges listed within the document included racketeering, a regulation used to focus on members of organizations engaged in criminality, in addition to making false statements, submitting false paperwork and several other conspiracy charges.
Reporting by Timothy Ahmann; further reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen, Joseph Ax and Sarah N. Lynch; Writing by Susan Heavey and Andy Sullivan; enhancing by Rami Ayyub, Scott Malone and Howard Goller
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
