The Fulton County Clerk of Courts said it accidentally published a document Monday listing charges against former President Donald Trump, prompting reports that he had been indicted—an explanation that puts an end to speculation about how the document appeared online hours before charges were formally announced.
The clerk of courts in Fulton County, Georgia, said in a statement Tuesday that the clerk’s office was conducting a “trial run” to “test the system” when the document was accidentally published.
The publication of the “sample working document led to the docketing of what appeared to be an indictment,” the clerk said.
Publication of the document—which listed Trump as a defendant, along with 13 charges against him that match those in the actual indictment, including racketeering—sparked widespread confusion among members of the media Monday when Reuters spotted it posted online.
The clerk quickly removed the document and said in a subsequent statement on Monday that it was a “fictitious” document, but failed to explain how the document was published.