‘Mishap’ led to early release of Trump indictment  

A “mishap” led to the release of a “sample working document” listing charges against former President Donald Trump hours before his indictment in Georgia became official, the Fulton County Clerk’s Office revealed Tuesday.

The two-page docket posted on the office’s website Monday showed the 77-year-old former president facing 13 counts related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election result in the Peach State. 

The document circulated online and was reported by several media outlets before the clerk’s office issued a statement — hours after its release — warning of a “fictitious document” but offering no explanation for how it made its way onto its website. 

Fulton County officials now say the docket’s release was inadvertent and that it was uploaded during a “trial run,” before Trump’s fourth criminal indictment became official.  

“In anticipation of issues that arise with entering a potentially large indictment, [Fulton County’s Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts Che] Alexander used charges that pre-exist in Odyssey to test the system and conduct a trial run,” the clerk’s office said in a statement Tuesday, referencing its case management software. 

“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.”

“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 a 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 statement continued. 

The press release added that “upon learning of the mishap, Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts, Che Alexander, immediately removed the document and issued correspondence notifying the media that a fictitious document was in circulation and that no indictment had been returned by the Grand Jury.” 

The 13 felony charges that the grand jury brought late on Monday against Trump matched those listed on the “sample working document” that was posted on the “Fulton County Press” queue earlier in the day before being removed.

Trump’s lawyers tore into Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her team shortly after the premature release of his indictment, arguing that the district attorney’s office has “once again shown that they have no respect for the integrity of the grand jury process.”

“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,” Trump attorneys Drew Findling and Jennifer Little said in a statement. 

When asked about the mishap during a press conference announcing the indictment against Trump and 18 others late Monday night, Willis refused to “speculate” on what may have occurred. 

“No, I can’t tell you anything about what you refer to,” Willis, who has been leading the investigation into Trump and his associates for more than two years, told a reporter.  

“I am not an expert on clerk’s duties or even administrative duties. I wouldn’t know how to work that system and so I’m not going to speculate,” she added. 

The clerk’s office’s memo concluded by acknowledging “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 office said.