Former President Donald Trump promises to unveil a “conclusive” report proving election fraud in Georgia.
He is announcing the report as a counter-strike against an hours-old indictment accusing him of conspiring with 18 others to make false claims about the 2020 election being stolen or “rigged.”
On the morning of Aug. 15, President Trump stated on Truth Social that he would hold a “major news conference” at 11 a.m. on Aug. 21, in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he owns a golf course.
The nearly-complete report is “large, complex, detailed” and “irrefutable,” he said.
“Based on the results of this conclusive report, all charges should be dropped against me and others—There will be a complete exoneration!” President Trump wrote.
“They never went after those that rigged the election. They only went after those that fought to find the riggers!”
President Trump’s attorneys also issued a pair of statements decrying the indictment in the hours after it was released.
In their latest statement, sent in the wee hours of Aug. 15, attorneys Drew Findling, Jennifer Little, and Marissa Goldberg called the events of Aug. 14 “shocking and absurd.”
The day began with “the leak of a presumed and premature indictment before the witnesses had testified or the grand jurors had deliberated,” the lawyers said.
Afterward, Fulton County District Attorney (DA) Fani Willis, who brought the charges, was “unable to offer any explanation.”
Questions Unanswered
During a brief news conference that ended just before midnight on Aug. 14, Ms. Willis read aloud the indictment and fielded a few questions from news reporters.
One of the press inquiries focused on a list of charges posted earlier on a court website, as reported by Reuters news agency.
The agency reported that it captured images of the two-page docketed charges but then officials removed the document from public view; a time stamp on the document shows 12:39 p.m.
It was unclear whether that was generated when Reuters accessed the document or when officials posted it.
Later in the day, the clerk of courts issued a statement, discouraging people from relying on the “fictitious” document that was “circulating” in news reports.
But when authorities revealed the indictment naming President Trump around 9 p.m., the 13 charges corresponded exactly with those listed on the earlier-posted document.
Ms. Willis said she was unable to answer questions about how that happened.
By Janice Hisle
