A Georgia court document indicated Trump would be hit with RICO charges for election interference, but it was quickly pulled down
- A court document in Georgia indicated Trump would be criminally charged under 13 different statutes.
- The top charge would be RICO, over his efforts to overturn election results.
The Fulton County Courts website briefly posted — and then removed — a document indicating former President Donald Trump would be charged under 13 different criminal statutes for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, according to Reuters.
The document, which was posted online by Reuters reporter Jack Queen, appeared to indicate Trump would face 39 charges overall, with a top charge of racketeering, also known as RICO.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began presenting evidence from her investigation to the grand jury, which is based in Atlanta, on Monday morning.
Her office has spent years investigating efforts to overturn Georgia's election results, sparked in part by Trump's request to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes" that would close the voting gap between him and now-President Joe Biden in the state.
Last year, Willis empaneled a special grand jury that met for eight months and heard evidence from dozens of witnesses, including top Georgia officials and Trump aides, but did not have the power to bring criminal charges. Trump's attorneys have unsuccessfully sought to block Willis from using the special grand jury's report — which largely remains secret — to bring a criminal case against Trump.
In a statement published later Monday afternoon, Nicholas Cotten, a spokesperson for the Fulton County courts system, said "a fictitious document" was circulating online related to the special grand jury.
"As the official custodian of various county records, the Clerk of 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," Cotten said.
Trump said on Truth Social that he expects to be criminally charged in Atlanta this week in what would be his fourth criminal case since April.
The current grand jury has been moving more quickly than expected. Two witnesses who were scheduled to testify before it on Tuesday had their meetings moved up to Monday, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The document briefly posted on the court website Monday indicates Trump will be charged with RICO, soliciting public officials to violate their oaths of office, conspiracy, and filing false statements. A spokesperson for the Fulton County Superior Court declined to comment.
Willis's investigation includes Trump's pressure campaign against Raffensperger and other public officials to manipulate the vote count, as well as a state Republican Party plot to have fake electors submit documents to Congress falsely declaring Trump the winner of Georgia's electoral college votes.
The prosecutor has used Georgia's RICO statute numerous times before in her career. Legal experts say that Willis could use the statute to argue in an indictment that Trump and other officials formed a "corrupt enterprise" to attempt to keep him in office.
Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith earlier this month brought a set of criminal charges against Trump in Washington, DC, over his efforts to stay in power by subverting the election results. His indictment also covers Trump pressuring Georgia officials to "find" votes and conspiring with others to use false electors to convince Congress to declare him the winner of the 2020 election.