ATLANTA (AP) — The special grand jury investigating efforts by Donald Trump and others to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results recommended indictments against twice as many people as the 19 prosecutors ultimately charged, leaving South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham among those not indicted.
The grand jurors’ lengthy report released Friday showed they recommended charges against 39 people, including Graham, former U.S. Sens. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.
The special grand jury included Graham’s name in a section about “the national effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” which Republican President Trump lost to Joe Biden, a Democrat. The South Carolina senator called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger shortly after the November 2020 election. Raffensperger has said Graham asked him about whether he had the power to reject certain absentee ballots.
Special grand juries in Georgia are relatively uncommon and are essentially an investigative tool. They do not have the power to bring an indictment but rather can produce a report with recommendations that are not binding on a district attorney, who must seek an indictment from a regular grand jury to bring charges against anyone.
The special grand jury’s report is based on the testimony of the witnesses prosecutors called and the evidence they presented over the second half of last year. In their report, the grand jurors made clear that the panel “contained no election law experts or criminal lawyers.”
The grand jurors’ lengthy report released Friday showed they recommended charges against 39 people, including Graham, former U.S. Sens. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.
The special grand jury included Graham’s name in a section about “the national effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” which Republican President Trump lost to Joe Biden, a Democrat. The South Carolina senator called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger shortly after the November 2020 election. Raffensperger has said Graham asked him about whether he had the power to reject certain absentee ballots.
Special grand juries in Georgia are relatively uncommon and are essentially an investigative tool. They do not have the power to bring an indictment but rather can produce a report with recommendations that are not binding on a district attorney, who must seek an indictment from a regular grand jury to bring charges against anyone.
The special grand jury’s report is based on the testimony of the witnesses prosecutors called and the evidence they presented over the second half of last year. In their report, the grand jurors made clear that the panel “contained no election law experts or criminal lawyers.”
