Georgia District Attorney Fani Wills held a press conference after a Fulton County grand jury decided to indict former President Trump and 18 others.
The 97-page indictment showed 41 felony counts against Trump and the 18 defendants that claim the group “unlawfully conspired and endeavored to conduct and participate in a criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia, and elsewhere.”
“Defendant Donald John Trump lost the United States presidential election held on November 3, 2020. One of the states he lost was Georgia,” the indictment states.
“Trump and the other Defendants charged in this Indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump. That conspiracy contained a common plan and purpose to commit two or more acts of racketeering activity in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, and in other states.”
The indictment turned into a low-budget reality show like Pelosi’s pageantry during the former president’s impeachment.
To add even more drama, the indictment was posted before the grand jury voted, and Reuters confirmed it.
During her press conference, Willis claimed she had no idea why the grand jury’s identical list of charges being voted on was published before the vote to indict.
“No, I can’t tell you anything about what you refer to,” she 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 build and we now have an indictment. 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.”
According to a report from The Hill, Reuters “clarified” why the docs were posted.
In a clarification posted online shortly after, Reuters said the court’s website briefly posted a document Monday listing several criminal charges against Trump, “before taking the document down without explanation.”
The document was dated Aug. 14, the wire and news service said, noting the document named Trump and cited the case as “open.”
“Reuters was not immediately able to determine why the item was posted or removed,” the outlet wrote on its website.
Willis also set a time for the former president and the others to surrender. She expects them to turn themselves in by noon on August 25, 2023.
