The special grand jury that investigated efforts by Donald Trump and others to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results recommended indictments against twice as many people as the 19 ultimately charged by prosecutors, leaving South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham among those not indicted.
The grand jurors' report released Friday showed they recommended charges against 39 people, including Graham, former U.S. senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Released at the request of the special grand jury, the report provides insight into one of the most expansive investigations into Trump, who is also facing two federal indictments along with unrelated state charges in New York City. While critics have accused Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of launching an unwieldy, overly broad case, the report suggests she used her discretion to streamline the case.
There are many reasons Willis might have chosen not to charge all those recommended, including immunity deals with some, federal protections for others or insufficient evidence to prove charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
The special grand jury included Graham's name in a section about "the national effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election," which Trump, the incumbent Republican, lost to Democrat Joe Biden. The South Carolina senator, who was the chairperson of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time, called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger shortly after the November election, and Raffensperger has said Graham asked him whether he had the power to reject certain absentee ballots.
Perdue and Loeffler were sitting U.S. senators who had failed to win enough votes in the November 2020 general election and were forced into a January 2021 runoff, which they both ultimately lost to Democratic challengers. In the weeks after the election, they were vocal in their criticism of Raffensperger, going so far as to call for his resignation.
Trump, the early front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, blasted the report on his Truth Social site, saying, "They wanted to indict anybody who happened to be breathing at the time."
Graham, who has denied any wrongdoing, said, "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."
Loeffler, who has stayed involved in politics by founding and funding a Republican-aligned group called Greater Georgia, said she was speaking up for people who felt disenfranchised in the 2020 election.
"Trying to jail your party's leading political opponent ahead of 2024 is election interference. Speaking out in defense of election integrity is not," she said on X, formerly Twitter.
Flynn pointed to his lawyer Jesse Binnall's post on X: "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."
Representatives for Perdue didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The panel spent seven months hearing from 75 witnesses before completing a report in December with recommendations for Willis on charges.
The release of the identities of people recommended for indictment is a departure from ordinary grand jury protocol, which dictates that prosecutors do not disclose the names of individuals investigated but not charged so as to prevent potentially innocent subjects from being unduly maligned.
Special grand juries in Georgia are relatively uncommon and are essentially an investigative tool. They can subpoena witnesses and evidence but do not have the power to bring an indictment. Instead, they can produce a report with recommendations that are not binding on a district attorney, who can then seek an indictment from a regular grand jury.
The special grand jury's report is based on the testimony of the witnesses whom prosecutors called and the evidence they presented over about seven months last year. In their report, the grand jurors made clear that the panel "contained no election law experts or criminal lawyers."
Of the 19 people ultimately indicted, only one was not included in the special grand jury's recommendations. A former White House aide who served as the director of Trump's Election Day operations, Michael Roman, was involved in efforts to put forth a set of fake electors after the 2020 election.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered the partial release of the report in February but declined to immediately release the panel's recommendations on who should or should not be prosecuted. The judge said at the time that he wanted to protect people's due process rights.
McBurney said in a new order filed Aug. 28 that the due process concerns were moot since a regular grand jury had indicted Trump and 18 other people under the state's anti-racketeering law. All have pleaded not guilty.
