Republicans Furious After Trump Georgia Charges Document Published

Republicans expressed outrage after the Fulton County District Attorney's Office uploaded a filing appearing to show potential charges against former President Donald Trump on Monday.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation into Trump's alleged efforts to thwart election results in Georgia faced new scrutiny from conservatives after the clerk's office temporarily published a document appearing to show Trump potentially facing at least 13 charges, including racketeering, the solicitation of violation of oath by public officer, filing false documents, and several conspiracy charges, according to Reuters.

Fulton County, however, said in a statement first reported by Atlanta News First's Brandon Keefe: "The Office of the Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Court has learned of a fictitious document that has been circulated online and reported by various media outlets related to The Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury."

It remains unknown whether Trump will ultimately face these, if any, charges in the case.

Willis' investigation has focused on his phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump allegedly asked him to find enough votes to tilt the election in his favor in a state narrowly won by President Joe Biden in 2020, as well as alleged efforts to submit a false slate of pro-Trump electors to the Electoral College. Trump has maintained his innocence, arguing that he has done nothing wrong and that prosecutors are targeting him for political purposes.

The district attorney's office told Reuters that no charges had been filed against Trump but has not acknowledged the document. The grand jury was expected to continue hearing testimony from former Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan on Tuesday, but he was seen entering a grand jury room on Monday, according to CNN.

Trump's attorneys Drew Findling and Jennifer Little responded to the document 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," the statement reads.

The filing drew criticism from Republicans, who pointed to it as proof that Trump has been treated unfairly by prosecutors. Several Republicans have attempted to say the case could be dismissed based on the filing.

Representative Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "This is OUTRAGEOUS government conduct and is a very legitimate basis to deem the entire Grand Jury process tainted & corrupted. MOTION TO DISMISS!!!"

Vivek Ramaswamy, who like Trump is running in the GOP presidential primary, urged him on X to "immediately file a motion to dismiss for a constitutional due process violation for publicly issuing an indictment before the grand jury had actually signed one."

"It's downright pathetic that Fulton County publicly posted the indictment on its website even before the grand jury had finished convening."

Lawyer, Republican Party official and 2020 Trump campaign adviser Harmeet Dhillon posted: "Note the plethora of conspiracy charges, with some RICO tossed in. Real lawyers know that just about nothing is a provable RICO in front of a fair court. Woke prosecutors are increasingly criminalizing speech in America, and this threatens all of us."

Donald Trump Jr. described the filing as proof of a "rigged system."

"Prosecutorial misconduct like this is what a RIGGED SYSTEM looks like. How is the AG of Georgia not stepping in to stop this travesty of justice, after the Fulton County DA violated my father's Constitutional Rights and tainted the Grand Jury? Going full Banana Republic!!!" he posted.

"This is completely against the law!! The Fulton County DA Fani Willis MUST BE REMOVED!!!" Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, posted.

Newsweek reached out to a district attorney's office spokesperson and Trump's campaign via email for comment.

Legal analysts told Newsweek that the document is unlikely to change the trial or the grand jury's decision.

"There is zero prejudice because there have been no charges yet, so it's totally meaningless in how it will affect either his trial or the grand jury's decision. That's completely irrelevant," former federal prosecutor Shanlon Wu told Newsweek in a telephone interview.

He said the filing may have a "draft template" of charges to present to the grand jury, and that Republican efforts to paint it as proof of a rigged system are "completely distorted."

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said in a statement to Newsweek: "This means one of two things. Either the docket was prepared prematurely, before the grand jury returned the indictment. Or the indictment was supposed to be sealed, and the clerk's office wasn't on the same page."