Fulton special grand jury recommended charges against ex-GOP Senators
Loeffler, Perdue among 21 individuals not indicted
The Fulton County special purpose grand jurors who spent nearly a year investigating interference in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election recommended indictments against the state’s two former Republican U.S. Senators and several other key Trump allies.
The report was unsealed by a judge Friday after several Atlanta-area media outlets and some of the defendants in the case fought tirelessly for its release. The nine-page report recommended charges against a total of 39 individuals, and we now know that Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are among the 21 who were ultimately never charged.
The special panel was convened by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in early 2022 to interview witnesses and gather evidence in her probe of the Trump campaign’s election interference efforts.
The report does not specify any unlawful behavior by either Loeffler or Perdue, but the two Republicans were influential in sowing distrust in the results of the 2020 election as they faced tumultuous races of their own. Loeffler in particular said that she planned to object to Georgia’s election results when Congress met to certify the electoral college votes.
She responded to Friday’s report by slamming the entire investigation as “election interference” and saying that she makes “no apologies” for giving a voice to millions of voters who felt “disenfranchised.”
Additionally, both Senators refused to condemn the former President as his rhetoric resulted in death threats toward state leaders and election officials.
They would both go on to lose their runoff races.
In the immediate aftermath of her defeat, and being on lockdown with her colleagues as a violent mob stormed the Capitol, Loeffler dropped her objection to the state’s election results. She also launched a SuperPAC to help mobilize Republican voters.
Perdue, on the other hand, continued to stand by Trump’s election lies. In fact, he made them the centerpiece of his 2022 campaign for governor, a race he went on to lose by more than 50 points despite having the former President’s support.
Perdue has not yet weighed in on Friday’s news.
He and Loeffler were not the only Trump allies who were recommended for charges. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from neighboring South Carolina, was also on the list. Graham admitted to calling Georgia’s Secretary of State hours after the election to raise questions about absentee ballots in Democratic-leaning counties. Former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn was also listed as a possible defendant by the special grand jury.
Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a former state lawmaker who participated in the alleged fake elector scheme, also should have faced charges, the report said. He is referred to several times as “unindicted co-conspirator individual #8” in last month’s indictment.
Willis was removed from interviewing Jones in her investigation after a political conflict between her and Jones’ Democratic rival in last year’s race for Lieutenant Governor. A different prosecutor will be tasked with deciding whether or not he should face charges, but as of now no one has agreed to take his case.
Jones responded Friday by calling the investigation a “political circus” and says that Fani Willis is ignoring actual problems like the inmate crisis at the Fulton County Jail. “Fani is obviously focused on what’s best for her political career, I’m focused on what’s best for Georgia,” he finished.
As for the case itself, all 18 defendants have pleaded not guilty and most of them waived their scheduled arraignments. One key defendant, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, lost his push to have his case tried in a federal courtroom, where he likely would have found a more favorable jury pool.
Meadows’ defeat is sure to make Trump and several others nervous about filing to move their case out of Fulton County, as the judge largely dismissed Meadows’ claims that he was acting as a federal official.
The full special purpose grand jury report can be read here.
They broke the law in Georgia therefore the trial should be in Georgia. No exceptions. Vote 💙