Lindsey Graham ‘completely surprised’ by Georgia grand jury recommending indictment
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he was “completely surprised” by the revelation that a grand jury in Georgia recommended criminal charges against him over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
“What I did was consistent with my job as a U.S. senator and chairman of the Judiciary Committee,” Graham told reporters in South Carolina on Friday. “I think the system in this country is falling apart and we have to be careful not to use the legal system as a political tool.”
The special grand jury voted 13-7 earlier this year to indict Graham, now the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The senator was ultimately not charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis when she filed charges against former President Donald Trump and other allies last month.
According to a special grand jury report released Friday, the panel also believed several others should be criminally charged with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results, including former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and former U.S. Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, both Republicans from Georgia. The grand jury also recommended that Perdue be indicted for making false statements about the election.
Prosecutors in the case were investigating a highly unusual call Graham made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger 10 days after the 2020 election. Graham asked Raffensperger during the call whether he had the power to throw it out all mail-in ballots in certain counties. Raffensber said it sounds like Graham suggested finding a way to overturn legally cast ballots.
But Graham disputed that insinuation, reiterating Friday that he was simply inquiring about the way the presidential election was conducted and about Senate runoffs involving Perdue and Loeffler that have not yet taken place.
“If it ever becomes impossible or politically dangerous or legally dangerous for a U.S. senator to call people to find out why the election was wrong, God help us all.” If I have questions in the next election, I will do the same said Graham.
“I did my job. I wouldn’t change anything I’ve done,” he added.
Prosecutors are given wide discretion in deciding how to charge someone, and it is not clear why Willis sought some charges but not others. Asha Rangappa, a lawyer and MSNBC legal commentator, suggested Friday that bringing charges against members of Congress could prove difficult and damaging to the overall case.
