Lindsey Graham insists he was doing his job and slams report saying Trump grand jury wanted to indict HIM: Senator claims the ‘country is getting off the rails’ and law is being ‘weaponized’

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Friday denounced a report that a Georgia grand jury recommended indicting him, saying he was just doing his job and the law was being “weaponized.”

Graham has repeatedly argued that as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he was interested in cases of possible voter fraud. That’s why he reached out to officials in Georgia and other states in the wake of the 2020 election.

Donald Trump falsely claimed at the time to be the victim of election fraud. Graham is an avid Trump supporter.

“We cannot criminalize senators who are doing their job if they have to fulfill a constitutional obligation. In my opinion, it would be irresponsible for me as chairman of the committee not to try to find out what happened,” he said. WYFF News in South Carolina, where he spoke to reporters in his home state.

Graham echoed Trump’s argument that the government is being “weaponized” against people.

‘I am very worried about the country at the moment. I was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This election was contested in courts and in multiple states. I had to explain my vote to the people of South Carolina. I had to decide whether or not I would be heard about the allegations in Georgia and other places. “I called several states, including Georgia,” he said.

“There are many people in this country who believe that the law has become a political weapon. We will see what happens in these cases,” he noted.

The Fulton County grand jury has recommended an indictment against Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina Georgia‘s election case, new lawsuits revealed on Friday.

Graham said he has not heard from Georgia officials and that he heard about the grand jury recommendation through television.

“I was totally surprised,” he noted.

“We’re opening Pandora’s box,” Graham said. “I think the system in this country is going off the rails and we have to be careful not to use the justice system as a political tool.”

Graham had called in the weeks after the 2020 election Georgian Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

Raffensperger has said he has interpreted questions about whether he could reject certain absentee ballots as a suggestion to reject legally cast votes.

But Graham said this Friday: “I asked him questions about the mail-in voting process. I never asked him to set aside ballots or anything else.”

“After the conversation, I decided it was best for me to vote to certify the election because I didn’t have enough faith in my own mind to overturn it,” he said.

“But the call I had with him was made from my office in Washington, where my staff was present,” he noted.

Graham noted that he voted to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College on January 6, the same day of the Capitol riot. As a senator, he had to vote to certify the results of each state’s election.

“I voted to certify the election. To suggest that I am part of a grand scheme to overturn the election makes no sense given my actions. It speaks more than anything to where we are. It’s me today. Tomorrow it could be someone else.”

“I feel comfortable voting to certify the election. I feel comfortable with the questions I asked. At the end of the day I did my job. And the day that is criminalized will be very bad for the country,” he added.

In the newly released court documents, Georgia grand jurors also recommended indictments against Michael Flynn, who had served as Trump’s national security adviser, and Georgia’s two former Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn and lawyers Lin Wood and Cleta Mitchell were also named, the report showed.

It is unclear why none of them were charged and what charges they may face.

The original indictment against Trump and 18 other co-defendants included details about 30 “unindicted co-conspirators” — people who Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis alleges participated in the criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.

Graham said he still supports Trump for president.

“I support President Trump. I proudly support him. That may happen a few times, but I thought he was a good president,” he said.

“I will not be deterred from campaigning for him and working with him.”

Graham fought against testifying before the Georgia grand jury and was ultimately ordered to do so by the Supreme Court.

The grand jury heard from about 75 witnesses for seven months before finalizing a report in December with recommendations for Willis on allegations related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The special grand jury did not have the authority to bring charges, but Willis used the evidence collected to file an indictment with a regular grand jury.

Here’s who else the grand jury recommended for indictment:

DAVID PERDUE and KELLY LOEFFLER

Perdue ran for re-election to the Senate in a special election in January 2021.

Trump campaigned for him, but also falsely claimed he won the presidential election and was a victim of election fraud.

Perdue has personally urged Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to call a special session of the Legislature to help Trump in his quest to overturn the election.

Loeffler was at that meeting.

She participated in a second election in January 2021, which she ultimately lost.

Trump also campaigned for her.

The loss of those two seats gave Democrats control of the Senate.

MICHAEL FLYNN

Flynn, like Graham, was forced to testify before the grand jury.

In mid-December 2020, Flynn told a right-wing news outlet that Trump could “take military capabilities” and place them in swing states and “essentially re-run elections in each of those states.”

Flynn also met at the White House on December 18, 2020, with Trump, attorney Sidney Powell and others associated with the Trump campaign for a meeting that “focused on topics including invoking martial law, seizing taking voting machines and appointing Powell as special counsel. to investigate the 2020 election,” Willis wrote in her document asking Flynn to testify.

And he attended meetings at the South Carolina home of conservative attorney Lin Wood in November 2020. Wood also testified before the grand jury. He was looking for ways to influence the election results in Georgia.

BORIS EPSHTEYN

Boris Epshteyn also testified before the grand jury.

He served as an attorney for Trump and the request for his testimony stated that he possesses “unique knowledge regarding the logistics, planning and execution of the Trump Campaign’s efforts to submit false ballot declarations to former Vice President Michael Pence and others.’

CLETA MITCHELL

Cleta Mitchell advised Trump during a phone call with state officials in Georgia after the 2020 election, urging them to find evidence that could overturn the state’s results.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered the partial disclosure of the report in February, but immediately declined to release the panel’s recommendations on who should or should not be prosecuted. The judge said at the time that he wanted to protect people’s rights to a fair trial.

McBurney said in a new warrant filed Aug. 28 that due process concerns are moot, as a regular grand jury has indicted Trump and 18 other people under the state’s anti-racketeering law. All have pleaded not guilty.

The portions of the report released earlier in February include the introduction and conclusion, as well as a section in which the grand jurors expressed concern that one or more witnesses may have lied under oath and urged prosecutors to drop charges. for perjury. The panel’s foreman had said in news interviews that the special grand jurors recommended that numerous people be indicted.

Friday’s newly released court documents also mention the jury’s concerns about being lied to: “A majority of the Grand Jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses who testified to that effect.” The Grand Jury recommends that the District Attorney file appropriate charges for such crimes where the evidence is compelling.”