An Atlanta-area special grand jury that spent months investigating alleged 2020 election interference in Georgia by Donald Trump and his allies agreed the former president should be indicted in the case and also recommended charging one of Trump’s closest associates, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), and 37 other people — a far larger group than a prosecutor ultimately charged.
The recommendations were contained in a 26-pagefinal report presented in January to Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) and made public by a judge Friday. The report by the special grand jury, which was an investigative body and did not have the power to issue criminal indictments, largely echoed Willis’s theory of the case, recommending charges for Trump and numerous others alleging a sweeping criminal conspiracy to subvert Joe Biden’s legitimate election win in Georgia.
A judge published the report at the request of the special grand jury, which cited a Georgia law that allows its recommendations be made public. The document offered some rare insight into parts of an investigation typically marked by secrecy, not just on those who were indicted but also those who weren’t. But the report, which is not legally binding, does not include the evidence or reasoning behind the jury’s thinking — though testimony transcripts and evidence are likely to emerge as part of the criminal proceedings against those who were ultimately charged in the case.