Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis deflected when asked how a draft of the indictment leaked Monday prior to the grand jury voting to charge former President Trump and 18 others.
Trump, former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, Jeff Clark, John Eastman, and others, were also charged out of the years-long investigation.
The charges include violating the Georgia RICO Act—the Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act; Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings; Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Filing False Documents; and Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer.
On Monday afternoon, the Fulton County Court’s website posted a document listing the same charges included in the indictment released late Monday night.
Reuters first reported on the document, before the Fulton County Court quickly removed it from the website.
‘The Office of the Fulton County Clerk or Superior and Magistrate Courts has learned of a fictitious document that has been circulated online and reported by various media outlets to The Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury,’ the court said in a statement Monday afternoon. ‘While there have been no documents filed today regarding such, 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.’
Trump attorneys Drew Findling and Jennifer Little slammed the Fulton County District Attorney’s office Monday afternoon.
‘The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office has once again shown that they have no respect for the integrity of the grand jury process,’ Findling and Little said. ‘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.’
They added: ‘This is emblematic of the pervasive and glaring constitutional violations which have plagued this case from its very inception.’
But after the grand jury actually deliberated, voted and handed up the indictment, Willis held a press conference to explain the charges.
When asked by Fox News for an explanation of the leak, Willis deflected.
‘No, I can’t tell you anything about what you refer to,’ Willis said. ‘What I can tell you is that we had a grand jury here in Fulton County. They deliberated till almost 8:00, if not right after 8:00, an indictment was returned. It was true billed. And you now have an indictment.’
She added: ‘I am not an expert on clerks duties or even administrative duties. I wouldn’t know how to work that system. And so I’m not going to speculate. Next question.’