The Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury investigating the 2020 presidential election recommended indicting a long list of former President Donald Trump's allies, including Sen. Lindsey Graham. DA Fani Willis did not charge the individuals when she returned an indictment last month against Trump and 18 co-defendants in the sprawling racketeering case (RICO).
CNN's Kate Bolduan notes that the list totals 39 people over efforts to overturn the election results, "and this is 20-plus additional people than what the district attorney sought charges against."
"Among those in the full report, South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham and two former senators from Georgia, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler," she continued. "And these are the people who are charged with the overturning of the election plan. Now, Paula, what are the major takeaways from this?"
CNN legal correspondent Paula Reid broke it down.
"Well, Kate, I want to think about these in two groups," she said. "The people who were not charged, lawmakers Senator Lindsey Graham, and Senator Kelly Loeffler and Purdue and how the grand jury came back. There was a recommendation, but it was not unanimous and wasn't just one person voting no."
"So, it is clear why the district attorney would not proceed with charges because this is the most friendly environment possible for her case," she continued. "You don't have lawyers in the room with the witnesses, and you don't have a defense presentation, and there is not a high bar to indict a ham sandwich, is the famous saying."
"This is not beyond a reasonable doubt. So if you have a problem with a case before a grand jury, you have big problems in a real courtroom, and it is clear why she would not proceed beyond these three individuals," she continued. "And when it comes to Michael Flynn and Cleta Mitchell, who was on the ground in Georgia, and attorney Boris Epshteyn. And they were not charged, but attorney Rudy Giuliani was."
"So another question is, should we have access to this? CNN is one of the outlets to have this historic document unsealed, but usually, the grand jury proceedings are done to protect the witnesses and give them the security and freedom to speak freely and protect the people who are not ultimately charged," she explained.
"Because we have the names out there and the math of how they voted to recommend them for being charged, but they don't have a mechanism or process to clear their name besides that they were not charged. So far, in the state of Georgia, they have erred far on the side of transparency. We have cameras in the courtroom so that anyone can watch these proceedings and even the mundane scheduling and logistics proceedings. And we saw the members of the special grand jury, and their names were published with this indictment, and many of them have been doxxed online and faced threats, and now we have access to this historic document, and something that CNN has pushed for, but there is a balance when it is coming to transparency, and that is part of the conversation going forward as well."
Who else really wanted to see Lindsey get perp-walked?
