Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Senator David Perdue (R-GA), wave during a campaign event at the Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub, in Milton, Georgia, December 21, 2020.
Al Drago | Reuters
The full special grand jury report that previewed the criminal indictment of former President Donald Trump and 18 others for trying to overturn his loss in the 2020 Georgia election had also recommended indicting two former U.S. senators for the state, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, and current U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Neither of those three current and former Republican lawmakers were indicted last month by the regular grand jury that charged Trump and the other defendants.
The full special grand jury report was released Friday morning.
In addition to the three senators, the special grand jury had also recommended 18 other people who were ultimately not charged by the regular grand jury last month, in addition to the people who ended up being indicted.
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) looks on during a news conference calling to designate Russia as state sponsor of terrorism, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S., September 14, 2022.
Tom Brenner | Reuters
They include former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn, Trump advisor and lawyer Boris Epshteyn, and campaign lawyer Cleta Mitchell.
Both Perdue and Loeffler were defeated in early 2021 runoff elections by Democrats, Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnoff. Trump’s continued false claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential contest were seen as factors that led to the defeat of both Perdue and Loeffler, and Democrats taking majority control of the Senate in 2021.
The special grand jury was used by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over seven months since 2022 to gather evidence and take testimony in her investigation of Trump and his allies in that election-reversal effort.
Trump and his co-defendants were indicted by a regular grand jury in Fulton County Superior Court last month on charges alleging a broad-ranging election conspiracy.
Previously unsealed sections of the special grand jury’s report said that members of the panel believed that some of the 75 witnesses it heard testimony from had perjured themselves.
The panel recommended that Willis seek indictments for more than 12 people, but the identities of those individuals were not made public during the partial release of the report in February.
Trump and the other defendants in the case have pleaded not guilty.
Separately, Trump is charged in federal court in Washington, D.C., with crimes related to his bid to reverse the national victory of President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Trump is currently the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination in the upcoming presidential election, teeing up a potential rematch in 2024.
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