RIGGED: Trump indictment documents published online BEFORE the grand jury’s official vote

08/16/2023 / By Richard Brown

Former President Donald Trump has described his latest indictment as “rigged” and nothing but a “witch hunt.”

“What about those indictment documents put out [yesterday], long before the grand jury even voted, and then quickly withdrawn? Sounds rigged to me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social early Tuesday morning, Aug. 15.

A statement from the Fulton County court clerk said the documents were accidentally published when its website system was being tested before the grand jury voted on whether to indict Trump. The court clerk added that the documents were not official because they lacked certain markings.

Trump also asked why he was not indicted two and a half years ago, and proceeded to offer the only plausible answer: “Because they wanted to do it right in the middle of my political campaign. Witch Hunt!”

On Monday, August 14, Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis secured the 41-count indictment from a grand jury, stemming from alleged “violations of Georgia law arising from a criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the election” in the state.

Also indicted were Trump’s allies, namely: Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, Ken Cheseboro, Jeffrey Clark, Jenna Ellis, Ray Smith III, Robert Cheeley, Michael Roman, David Shafer, Shawn Still, Stephen Lee, Harrison Floyd, Trevian Kutti, Sidney Powell, Cathleen Latham, Scott Hall and Misty Hampton.

It is the fourth indictment targeting the 77-year-old former chief executive.

Trump’s lawyers – Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg – described the indictment as absurd. They said Willis was forced to rush through the charges after the indictment was briefly published online hours before it was officially filed.

“In light of this major fumble, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office clearly decided to force through and rush this 98-page indictment,” the lawyers noted in a statement.

“This one-sided grand jury presentation relied on witnesses who harbor their own personal and political interests – some of whom ran campaigns touting their efforts against the accused and/or profited from book deals and employment opportunities as a result. We look forward to a detailed review of this indictment which is undoubtedly just as flawed and unconstitutional as this entire process has been.”

Despite facing 91 criminal charges in all, Trump continues to dominate Republican primary polling, leading his closest challengers nationally and in early-voting states by about 40 points.

Giuliani: Indictment an affront to American democracy

Giuliani, one of the accused, called the indictment “an affront to American democracy that does permanent, irrevocable harm to our justice system.”

The former New York City mayor and Trump lawyer called it “just the next chapter in a book of lies with the purpose of framing President Donald Trump and anyone willing to take on the ruling regime.”

He added: “The real criminals here are the people who have brought this case forward both directly and indirectly.”

Giuliani, while working as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, used the RICO laws to prosecute mob bosses – the same laws now being used against him, Trump and 17 others.

RICO stands for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, a count which is frequently used to try mafia figures, cartel leaders and gangland bosses. (Related: Donald Trump Jr. on father’s indictment: ‘We’re living in 3rd world Banana Republic.’)

Republicans rally behind Trump

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Trump’s mounting legal woes were “unfair.” He accused prosecutors of weaponizing the law and setting a “bad precedent.”

Graham insisted the former president’s fate should be left to voters.

“The American people can decide whether they want him to be president or not,” Graham said during Monday’s broadcast of Jesse Watters’ Fox News show.

“This should be decided at the ballot box, not a bunch of liberal jurisdictions trying to put the man in jail.”

On X, formerly Twitter, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas wrote: “The timing here is nakedly political. Every time bad news comes out about Hunter or Joe Biden, you can set a stopwatch and within hours, some clown goes and indicts Donald Trump again. Then all of the little lemmings in the media run and say, ‘Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump.”