Donald Trump's fourth indictment, in connection with an alleged criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia, did not run smoothly on Monday night after allegations that the former president's charges were "leaked" ahead of the grand jury's decision.
Trump and his allies are accused of a total of 41 charges, with each defendant accused of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The former president denies wrongdoing and says the indictment is politically motivated.
However, the release of a document containing his charges ahead of the grand jury decision was seized upon by his team, which suggested the Fulton County District Attorney's office had "decided to force through and rush" the process.
The Claim
In a statement, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on August 15, 2023, Trump's attorneys claimed that there had been a "leak of a presumed and premature indictment before the witnesses had testified or the grand jurors had deliberated."
"In light of this major fumble, the Fulton County District Attorney's Office clearly decided to force through and rush this 98-page indictment," the statement continued.
"This one-sided grand jury presentation relied on witnesses who harbor their own personal and political interests—some of whom ran campaigns touting their efforts against the accused and/or profited from book deals and employment opportunities as a result.
"We look forward to a detailed review of this indictment which is undoubtedly just as flawed and unconstitutional as this entire process has been."
The Facts
While it is true that a document was made available with Trump's charges there is no evidence of the intent behind it, least of all that the Fulton County DA attempted to "rush" anything.
On August 14, 2023, Reuters reported that a document was posted on the Fulton County Court website that appeared to list charges for Trump even though no indictment had been handed down by the grand jury. It was based on a document listing 13 charges against the former president, including racketeering, filing false documents, and multiple conspiracy charges.
This document was later deleted from the court website but is still available via Thomson Reuters.
The office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis later told Reuters that no charges had been filed, with the grand jury that was meeting to decide on charges against Trump not yet having voted.
A statement from the Office of the Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts described the potential leak as "a fictitious document that has been circulated online," despite the document having reportedly appeared on its official website.
Despite what the Fulton County office has claimed, the document was recovered by other journalists and there is no reason to doubt the veracity of Reuters' account.
The two-page document does contain the charges that Trump was later indicted on but provides very little information apart from that. The document is also incomplete, not listing Trump's date of birth.
The court also stated, following the Reuters story, 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." The two-page leak does include some of this information but not all of it.
The document's upload is also not evidence alone that the Fulton County DA's investigation tried to either indict Trump ahead of the grand jury or otherwise deliberately "leaked" the charges. The two-page paper is bare bones, with no watermarks, signatures or headings indicating it is an official or binding release.
While it may be an embarrassing affair for the Fulton County DA's office, which has been working on its investigation of Donald Trump for two years, there is simply no evidence or indication of impropriety or failure to follow the full indictment process.
Newsweek has contacted a media representative for the Fulton County Clerk for comment.
The Ruling
Needs Context.
A two-page document was reportedly briefly published on the Fulton County court website listing a list of charges next to Donald Trump's name. These were the same charges that a grand jury indicted the former president on.
However, the document is incomplete and is not evidence that it was an official announcement of charges made ahead of the grand jury.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
