Georgia grand jury in Trump election fraud case recommended charges against Sen. Lindsey Graham
A Georgia special grand jury recommended indicting Sen. Lindsey Graham for his role in former President Trump’s alleged 2020 election interference conspiracy, a bombshell report made public Friday revealed.
The powerful South Carolina Republican pressured Georgia election officials to toss out votes for President Biden in the battleground state, a call that mirrored Trump’s demand that they “find” just enough votes to let him win the Peach State.
But Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis apparently decided not to pursue charges against Graham, who is the ranking GOP member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.Mike Flynn, the disgraced former National Security Adviser to Trump, was also recommended for criminal charges by the panel along with former Sen. David Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler and a handful of other Trump allies.
Despite escaping charges, Graham called the grand jury’s recommendation a dangerous sign.
“We can’t criminalize senators doing their jobs,” Graham said after the report’s release. “We’re opening up Pandora’s box.”
It was not immediately clear why Willis chose not to pursue indictments against all those named in the report by the grand jury, which heard evidence for months and issued recommendations in January.In a quirk of Georgia law, special grand juries only hear evidence and make recommendations but a regular grand jury is required to hand up indictments.Trump and 18 co-defendants were charged last month under Georgia’s powerful RICO law with trying to steal the election.
At least two of the co-defendants, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, are expected to go on trial Oct. 23 after demanding a speedy trial.Trump and others are pushing for a long delay. Ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is leading a parade of others want their cases moved to federal court.
Donald Trump mugshot
Fulton County Sheriff’s Office Donald Trump mugshot
Graham appeared before the special grand jury last year after resisting in a long court battle over his testimony.
He admitted speaking to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff about his spurious claims that there was enough fraud to tip the state to Trump despite repeated recounts that found the results valid.
Raffensperger told the congressional January 6 committee that Graham’s request was inappropriate because it would’ve amounted to “disenfranchising voters.”
Trump immediately responded to the news, saying report shows the probe has zero credibility.
“Essentially, they wanted to indict anybody who happened to be breathing at the time. It totally undermines the credibility of the findings,” Trump wrote on his social media site
