The Georgia grand jury that indicted Donald Trump and 18 co-conspirators for efforts to overturn the Republican’s 2020 presidential defeat recommended criminal charges against U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and others, according to a report released on Friday.
The special grand jury proposed charges against Graham as well as Georgia’s two U.S. senators at the time, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue; former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn but although the panel recommended indictment they were not ultimately charged. for indictment.
Graham was investigated over a pair of phone calls the South Carolina Republican made to Raffensperger and his staff after the November 2020 election. Raffensperger has said Graham suggested that the secretary of state had the authority to reject certain absentee ballots.
Like Trump, all the accused criminals are Republicans.
Only 19 of 39 individuals identified and recommended by the Fulton County, Georgia special grand jury for indictment were ultimately charged last month by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in connection with the case.
None were ultimately charged when Georgia prosecutors filed a sweeping criminal case against Trump and 18 alleged co-conspirators.
Trump is the first former US president in history to face criminal charges but he is currently dominating the field for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
Conservative lawyer Cleta Mitchell, whom the panel recommended for indictment, participated in the infamous phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” to overturn Biden’s victory in the state. Mitchell served as legal counsel for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the National Rifle Association, and she has represented many Tea Party Republicans.
Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, took the stand to defend Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Menendez at the New Jersey lawmaker’s federal bribery trial. U.S. Senator Cory Booker also testified in 2017 on behalf of Menendez, who was facing criminal charges for helping a Florida doctor elude justice for the biggest Medicare fraud case in history.