Donald Trump indictment: Georgia grand jury recommended Lindsey Graham be charged

A special grand jury that investigated alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 US presidential election results in Georgia recommended that Republican senator Lindsey Graham should be charged.

The jury also believed that the then two Republican senators in the state of Georgia, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, should be prosecuted.

None of the three was named in the indictment brought by Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis last month and authorised by a regular grand jury in Atlanta last month.

On foot of this indictment 19 people were charged with scheming to illegally overturn Donald Trump’s defeat in the state to Joe Biden, including the former president himself and his lawyer, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

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Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty.

Overall the special grand jury recommended that 39 people should face charges – 20 more than were ultimately named in the indictment.

The special grand jury convened in 2021 at the request of Ms Willis to assist in her investigation as it had the authority to issue subpoenas. It heard testimony from 75 witnesses. The special grand jury is an investigative body and did not have the power to issue charges.

But it did make recommendations on who should be charged and the details were set out in an unredacted version of its final report, which was published on Friday in Georgia.

The district attorney was not obliged to follow the recommendations set out by the special grand jury and was free to make her own decisions.

The report discloses that members of the special grand jury voted by 20 to one that Mr Trump and Mr Giuliani be prosecuted. It shows the jury voted by 13 to seven that charges should be brought against Mr Graham, a Republican senator for South Carolina.

Apart from Mr Graham, Mr Perdue and Ms Loeffler, the special grand jury recommended that charges be brought against lawyers Cleta Mitchell and Lin Wood; Boris Epshteyn, an adviser to the former president; and Michael Flynn, who for a time wasnational security adviser under the Trump administration.

The report said the members of the special grand jury recommended that indictments be sought against 30 people including Mr Graham and the two former senators “with respect to the national effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, focused on efforts in Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and the 24 District of Columbia”.

It also recommended charges against other people in relation to other issues regarding the 2020 election.

Mr Graham is a former rival of Mr Trump, but the two became friends and frequently play golf together. The senator was among the 75 witnesses summoned to appear before the special grand jury last year as prosecutors investigated calls Mr Graham made to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger after the 2020 election.

Mr Graham said his behaviour was appropriate because he was entitled to examine state election activity as chair of the Senate judiciary committee. He fought a subpoena ordering him to testify but was ultimately told to do so by the US supreme court.

The report on Friday did not specify in particular why members of the special grand jury believed he should face charges.

Ms Loeffler and Mr Perdue, both Trump loyalists, were defeated by Democratic candidates in elections in Georgia in January 2021. Mr Perdue then ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022.