The Fulton County, Ga., court clerk’s office has acknowledged that it accidentally published a “sample working document” in the case against former president Donald Trump on Monday, hours before the grand jury handed down an indictment.
A two-page docket was posted on the Fulton County court’s website that detailed charges against Trump, including racketeering, conspiracy, and false statements, according to Reuters. However, the docket was quickly removed from the site on Monday.
The Fulton County court clerk’s office initially said in a statement to Reuters and NBC that no documents had been filed on Monday related to the grand jury in the case. The office said it was aware of “a fictitious document that has been circulated online and reported by various media outlets,” though the statement did not mention Trump by name.
“As the custodian of various county records, the Clerk of the Courts understands the sensitivity of all court filings, especially those that are at the forefront of the national spotlight and remains committed to operating with an extreme level of efficiency, accuracy and transparency,” the statement added.
However, on Tuesday, the clerk’s office admitted it had been running a test of the system, “in anticipation of issues that arise with entering a potentially large indictment,” when it published a “sample working document related to the former United States President, Donald Trump.”
“Unfortunately, the sample working document led to the docketing of what appeared to be an indictment, but which was, in fact, only a fictitious docket sheet,” the statement added.
“Because the media has access to documents before they are published, and while it may have appeared that something official had occurred because the document bore a case number and filing date, it did not include a signed ‘true’ or ‘no’ bill nor an official stamp with Clerk Alexander’s name, thereby making the document unofficial and a test sample only,” the office said.
Trump’s attorneys criticized the release of the docket in a statement on Monday.
“The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office has once again shown that they have no respect for the integrity of the grand jury process,” attorneys Drew Findling and Jennifer 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. This is emblematic of the pervasive and glaring constitutional violations which have plagued this case from its very inception.”
The clerk’s office said in a statement that it “understands the confusion that this matter caused and the sensitivity of all court filings.”
“We remain committed to operating with an extreme level of efficiency, accuracy, and transparency,” the statement added.
Trump and 18 other defendants were indicted by a Georgia grand jury on Monday evening in connection with their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential-election results in the Peach State.
Trump is facing 13 felony charges, including conspiracy to commit forgery, filing of false documents, solicitation of violation of oath by public officer, and violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.