Lindsey Graham and Michael Flynn.Photo:Getty (2)
Getty (2)
Donald Trumpwas indicted in Fulton County, Georgia, last monthalongside 18 of his alliesfor allegedly conspiring to reverse the state’s 2020 election results. According to a newly unsealed court filing, the list of defendants could have been much longer.
Before a grand jury was tasked with voting on indictments in August, a separate special grand jury was impaneled to lay some groundwork, gathering information on Republicans' efforts to stop Georgia’s Electoral College votes from going to Joe Biden. The special grand jury’s final report,which contained indictment recommendations, was kept under seal for several months — until Friday.
The report reveals that jurors recommended for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to also seek indictments against 21 additional Trump allies, including Sen.Lindsey Graham, former national security adviserMichael Flynn, and Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn.
Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham.SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Graham, who is a sitting U.S. senator from South Carolina, was subpoenaed in the investigation, though previous statements from his attorneys stated that he was “neither a subject nor target of the investigation, simply a witness.”
The subpoena cites a November 2020 phone call Graham made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which he allegedly inquired about “reexamining certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump.”
Former Georgia Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.Getty (2)
Georgia Sens. Perdue and Loeffler are no longer in office.
Perduelost his 2020 reelection bidto Democrat Jon Ossoff, while Loeffler — a WNBA team owner and reportedlyone of the wealthiest peopleto ever serve in the U.S. Senate —lost a January 2021 Senate runoffto Democrat Raphael Warnock.
The special grand jury also recommended charges against Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, as well as adviser Boris Epshteyn and lawyers Lin Wood and Cleta Mitchell.
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn.Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Flynn was a central figure in the Trump-Russia investigation and in 2020, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI before trying to withdraw his plea later that same year. Those charges were ultimately dropped because Flynn’s misrepresentations to the FBI weren’t “material.”
Boris Epshteyn.Alex Brandon/AP
Alex Brandon/AP
Epshteyn, a former Trump campaign adviser, was also a figure in the bipartisan House committee’s investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots. According to the committee, Epshteyn attended meetings at the Trump campaign’s war room, set up in the Willard Hotel, in the days leading up to the violent insurrection.
Epshteyn allegedly also “had a call with former President Trump on the morning of January 6th to discuss options to delay the certification of election results in the event of Vice President Pence’s unwillingness to deny or delay the certification,” the committee said in an earlier news release.
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Wood and Mitchell, meanwhile, were among a group of attorneys who peddled false conspiracies about the 2020 election and launched several legal challenges to the election results that failed in court or were dismissed entirely.
In July, Wood chose tohave his law license retiredin Georgia as he awaited possible punishment from the state bar, amid multiple disciplinary investigations.
source: people.com
