Lindsey Graham among those who Georgia special grand jury recommended for charges in 2020 election probe

Sen. Lindsey Graham and two other senators were among those that a special purpose grand jury recommended be charged in the Fulton County DA’s election interference probe — but were never charged — according to the panel’s full report that was released publicly this morning.

A Georgia judge released the findings of the panel, which aided in District Attorney Fani Wills’ investigation into efforts of Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, which in turn led to last month’s sweeping racketeering indictment against Trump and 18 others.

The special purpose grand jury, seated in 2022, did not have the power to indict but gathered evidence as part of the nearly eight-month probe and subsequently made sealed recommendations about who should be charged in the case. Willis was not bound by their recommendations.

Then-Sen. David Purdue and then-Sen. Kelly Loeffler were among those the special purpose grand jury recommended for charges, but were not ultimately charged.

Others included former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, Trump 2024 campaign senior adviser Boris Epshteyn and attorneys Cleta Mitchell and Lin Wood. None were charged in the DA’s probe.

In total, the special purpose grand jury recommended charges against 39 individuals. Among the others recommended for charges were a number of so-called “fake electors” who later ended up cooperating with the DA’s investigation.

The panel specifically recommended the three senators be charged with the racketeering charge that the DA ultimately brought against all of the 19 defendants in her indictment.

A separate regular grand jury returned the indictment against Trump and the 18 others last month. All 19 have pleaded not guilty.

Though the special purpose grand jury did not have indictment power, Willis has said she needed its subpoena power to compel testimony from witnesses who would not comply with the investigation otherwise.

Prosecutors said the 26-person panel heard testimony from over 75 witnesses, including Graham and other close Trump allies Rudy Giuliani and former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

The special grand jury’s work culminated in a report with charging recommendations, which was delivered to the DA but was only partially released to the public.

The DA was not bound by the special purpose grand jury’s recommendations and was free to pursue her own charges.

Once the report was completed this past February, Judge Robert McBurney ordered most of it to remain under seal “until such time as the District Attorney completes her investigation.” A few portions of the report were released, but none of the charging recommendations were.

In addition to report’s introduction and conclusion, one section was released in which the grand jury recommended perjury charges for some witnesses who they said may have lied under oath during their testimony — but the redacted report did not include their identities.

In ordering the full report to now be released, McBurney wrote that the filing of the indictment last month “eliminates the due process concerns” that previously kept the majority of the report sealed.