Supporters of Donald Trump will use the early uploading of a court filing appearing to show charges against the former president as “evidence that the whole criminal process…is a sham” according to a leading political scientist.
On Monday, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office published, then deleted, a filing from its website which seemed to show charges against Trump before his fourth indictment was formally announced. This sparked fury among Trump supporters, with House Republican Lauren Boebert calling for District Attorney Fani Willis to be “relieved of her position.”
Just hours after the filing was deleted, the District Attorney’s office announced Trump had been indicted on 13 counts relating to his alleged involvement in an conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in Georgia. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and branded the indictment a “witch hunt” on Truth Social.
After the document was posted, Fulton County released a statement, first reported by Atlanta News First’s Brandon Keefe, questioning its authenticity. It said: “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.”
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However, the charges on the published then deleted court filing matched those confirmed hours later in the indictment, and Trump’s legal team rejected the claim that this could be “a simple administrative mistake.”
Newsweek reached out to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office via email for comment.
Thomas Gift, who heads University College London’s Centre on U.S. Politics, argued that the document being posted doesn’t undermine the indictment but is likely to be used by Trump supporters to boost conspiracy theories.
“It doesn’t take much to convince MAGA supporters that vast left-wing conspiracies are at work against Trump,” Gift told Newsweek. “They’ll no doubt use this slip-up as more evidence that the whole criminal process against Trump is a sham.
“To be fair, it’s an unforced and unacceptable error, presumably by the Fulton County DA’s office, which should never have happened. At the same time, it does nothing to undermine the actual merits of the indictment,” he said.
Thomas Whalen, an associate professor who teaches U.S. politics at Boston University, agreed the early release will serve as fodder for conspiracy theorists.
“Blame the leak on the Knight Templars who are in league with the Roswell extraterrestrials who are hanging out with Jimmy Hoffa, Elvis and JFK at Area 51! It’s completely crazy and implausible but that’s the kind of mindset these kind of conspiracy-minded, uber-Trump supporters possess. They have a complete distrust in our government and legal system,” Whalen told Newsweek.
“They’ll spin whatever wild conspiracy someone can concoct to fit their political bias and absolve their hero, a twice impeached, about to be four-time indicted ex-president. It really would be funny if it wasn’t so sad and pathetic. Another sad day in the history of our declining democracy,” he said.
In addition to Trump, Willis brought charges against 18 of his associates, including his ex-lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and his former chief-of-staff, Mark Meadows. The charges against Trump included solicitation of violation of oath by public officer, filing false documents and multiple conspiracy counts and his alleged violation of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The last of these, originally introduced to fight organized crime, comes with a prison sentence of up to 20 years if convicted.
David Andersen, a U.S. politics expert who teaches at Durham University in the United Kingdom, told Newsweek that Trump’s fourth indictment is unlikely to have a significant impact on his popularity.
“The latest indictment is unlikely to help Trump but is also unlikely to hurt him much. Trump’s supporters are completely convinced that he is the victim of political persecution so will view this as just additional evidence of that,” Andersen said.
“Neither indictments nor convictions are likely to sway his supporters. But other Americans who already oppose Trump will also just see this as further evidence that he was a poor leader and a criminal. That is something they were already convinced of so it won’t change their preferences or behaviors.
“Americans are already convinced of their own opinions on Trump and new evidence just strengthens those beliefs. It is hard to imagine that anyone in America is still forming an opinion on Trump and will find these latest indictments helpful in making up their minds.”
Polling indicates Trump has a commanding lead over Republican rivals in his bid to become the GOP’s 2024 presidential candidate.