A special grand jury last year recommended that the Atlanta district attorney charge three current and former U.S. senators for allegedly aiding former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
The panel urged Fulton County Attorney Fani Willis to charge Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and former Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and David Perdue R-Ga.), according to its 28-month report. pages, published on Friday. .
Willis, an elected Democrat, indicted Trump and 18 alleged accomplices on Aug. 14 on charges including extortion, historically used against organized crime. He has not explained his decision not to press charges against the senators.
Graham testified before the grand jury in November of last year about his actions after the 2020 election, after unsuccessfully suing to block a subpoena citing the speech or debate clause of the Constitution.
Grand jurors voted 13-7 to indict the four-term senator, according to the grand jury report.
Graham was apparently in the panel’s crosshairs because of his post-election outreach to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
A special grand jury seeks to indict David Perdue and two others in connection with Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Ron Sachs – CNP
The panel, whose 28-page report was released Friday, recommended that Fulton County Attorney Fani Willis indict Perdue, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) (above) and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga .). AP
Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, said Graham asked him about comparing ballots to voters, which he believed implied the senator wanted to throw out some votes.
“I had questions, like many other people, about how the mail-in voting process worked in Georgia and other places. I did my due diligence. At the end of the day, I voted to certify the election results for every state, including Georgia,” Graham said Friday.
“It should never be a crime for a federal elected official, particularly the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who will have to vote to certify a presidential election, to question and ensure the integrity of that election.”
More jurors voted to indict Loeffler and Perdue, who narrowly lost reelection in a pair of runoffs on Jan. 5, 2021, amid Republican infighting over Trump’s defeat.
Panel members voted 14-6 in favor of charging Loeffler and 17-4 in favor of charging Perdue.
Willis may have chosen not to indict pro-Trump senators because the grand jury breakup indicated difficulties in obtaining a conviction at trial.
The panel, whose 28-page report was released Friday, recommended that Fulton County Attorney Fani Willis indict Perdue, Graham (R-SC) and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) (above). . REUTERS
Other Trump allies listed in the document but ultimately not charged include former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Boris Epshteyn, a top adviser to the 45th president, and attorney Lin Wood.
Grand juries voted 20-1 to indict Flynn, Epshteyn and Wood, raising questions about Willis’s decision not to indict them.
A lawyer for Flynn, Jesse Binnall, said in a statement that the disclosed report “reveals even more corruption by a politically motivated prosecutor with one goal: to bring down President Trump and his associates and interfere in the 2024 election.
“This unfounded witch hunt is not based on fact, or law, or reality,” Binnall added. “All of this is simply the fruit of the same poisonous tree that we have seen time and time again, and it is designed to destroy the country and undermine the values that make this nation great. Sadly, this is the threat we face and what is at stake in 2024. General Michael Flynn will continue to fight for the truth, for America First Principles, and for Donald Trump’s return to the White House in 2024.”
The panel also voted 20-1 to indict Trump, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump’s former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and other co-defendants in the case. Willis accepted those recommendations.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn