Jury recommended charges against senator Lindsey Graham in Trump investigation – but he wasn’t indicted
A report released on Friday shows a special jury investigating attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results recommended indictments against a much larger group than first thought.
Friday 8 September 2023 20:57, UK
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Lindsey Graham was among those recommended for indictment. Pic: AP
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Lindsey Graham was among those recommended for indictment. Pic: AP
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A grand jury helping the US prosecutor who indicted Donald Trump and 18 others had recommended charging more people, including senator Lindsey Graham and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
According to a report released on Friday, the Georgia special grand jury investigating efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat named 39 people that it recommended for indictment, but only 19 were charged.
The nine-page report identified Republican senator Mr Graham and Mr Flynn among 20 people not indicted.
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Mr Graham, a former Trump rival who later played golf with the former president, asked officials in Georgia to look at absentee ballots following Trump’s defeat, though he defended his actions, saying he was entitled to examine election activity as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Speaking on Friday, he denied any wrongdoing and said he was fulfilling his duties.
“We can’t criminalise senators doing their job,” he told a news conference in South Carolina. “The next election, if I have questions I’ll do the same thing.”
A spokesperson for Trump criticised the report as “biased” and “un-American”, while a lawyer who represents Mr Flynn has not yet addressed the issue.
The release showed the jury also recommended charging Georgia’s two senators at the time, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.
Trump allies Ms Loeffler and Mr Perdue lost in an election in January 2021.
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The panel in this case heard from 75 witnesses over seven months, before filing a report in December with recommendations for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The special grand jury, which was formed in 2021, did not have the power to charge people, but Ms Willis used the evidence it gathered to request an indictment from a regular grand jury in August.
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At Ms Willis’s request, the report remained secret for nine months as she decided what charges to bring forward.
All 19 people who were charged have pleaded not guilty, while Trump continues to deny any wrongdoing and claims he is the victim of political persecution.
He remains the favourite for the Republican presidential nomination.
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