A Georgia special grand jury that investigated former President Donald Trump over 2020 election interference recommended indicting 39 people, including Sen. Lindsey Graham and former Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis ultimately indicted 19 people, including Mr. Trump, on racketeering, conspiracy and other charges but declined to indict the trio of Republican senators.
Ms. Loeffler and Mr. Perdue, both of Georgia, lost their reelection bids in 2021. Mr. Graham of South Carolina remains in office.
The grand jury’s recommendations for the indictments were revealed Friday in the panel’s full report and showed none of the votes to charge Mr. Trump were unanimous. One juror voted against each of the 10 charges and several jurors abstained from some of the votes.
Mr. Trump, responding Friday on his social media site, said the report “has ZERO credibility and badly taints Fani Willis and this whole political Witch Hunt.”
The report showed the grand jury recommended indicting Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, for his role in the effort to overturn Georgia’s election results.
In court papers filed earlier this year, Georgia prosecutors alleged Mr. Flynn took part in a White House meeting on Dec. 18, 2020, with lawyer Sidney Powell and discussed steps to prevent Mr. Biden from becoming president, including invoking martial law and taking control of voting machines.
Mr. Flynn had been pardoned by Mr. Trump 10 days before the meeting, ending the government’s prosecution of Mr. Flynn on charges he lied to the FBI.
Despite the grand jury recommendation, Ms. Willis did not indict Mr. Flynn.
The Georgia grand jury investigated the allegations against the 39 people over seven months beginning in 2022 and submitted its findings to Ms. Willis, who brought her recommendations to a separate grand jury.
The second group of jurors handed down the indictment on Aug. 24 against Mr. Trump and 18 others, including his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
Mr. Trump and the co-defendants have entered not-guilty pleas.
It’s one of four criminal cases and 91 charges Mr. Trump faces as he leads the Republican presidential primary field.
The Georgia grand jury’s broad investigation into election interference also recommended indictments against Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, former Trump adviser and lawyer Boris Epshteyn and campaign lawyer Cleta Mitchell.
Ms. Willis rejected the grand jury’s vote and did not indict any of them.
The 26-page report provides some of the reasoning behind the juror recommendations.
Jurors suggested Ms. Willis indict Mr. Graham, Ms. Loeffler, Mr. Perdue and Mr. Flynn for their involvement in the “national effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.”
The grand jury recommended charging Mr. Perdue in connection with “persistent, repeated communications directed to multiple Georgia officials and employees” between November 2020 and January 2021.
Mr. Graham was the only sitting U.S. senator to testify before the grand jury and did so after the Supreme Court ruled he was not shielded by his status as a lawmaker.
Ms. Willis wanted to question him about two phone calls he made weeks after the 2020 election asking Georgia officials to examine absentee ballots.
All 18 jurors recommended indicting Ms. Mitchell on four counts for participating in the infamous phone call between Mr. Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021.
Mr. Trump, who was trailing Mr. Biden by 11,779 votes in Georgia, told Mr. Raffensperger, “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state.”
Mr. Trump has defended the call as “perfect” and said it concerned “widespread election fraud in Georgia.”
Mr. Trump and Mr. Meadows were the only two Ms. Willis charged in connection to the call.
Jurors recommended charging Ms. Mitchell with making false statements or writings and making false official certificates or writings by officers of the state.
Jurors recommended indicting Mr. Jones, who at the time was a state senator “with respect to the gathering of Republican electors at the Georgia State Capitol” on Dec. 14, 2020, and along with Mr. Epshteyn, for the “national effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.”
A Georgia judge blocked Ms. Willis from questioning or bringing charges against Mr. Jones because she held a fundraiser for his opponent.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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