Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was "totally surprised" a special grand jury recommended he face charges over attempts by former President Donald Trump and his associates to subvert the 2020 election in Georgia.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis ultimately did not charge Graham after indicting Trump and 18 others last month.
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“At the end of the day, nothing happened,” Graham told reporters in his home state Friday. “What I did was consistent with my job as being a U.S. senator, chair of the Judiciary Committee. … I think the system in this country is getting off the rails, and we have to be careful not to use the legal system as a political tool.”
Graham said he didn't read the full grand jury report but was caught off guard to learn the jury members recommended his prosecution. He said that he did not have any further communications with its members after a two-hour conversation in November last year.
“It’s over for me,” Graham said. “I was totally surprised. … I never suggested anybody set aside the election. I never said, ‘Go find votes.’ I never said anything other than trying to find how the mail-in balloting system worked.”
When asked what members of the special grand jury asked him when he was called to testify last year, he said he was questioned about a phone call he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after the 2020 election, and whether he believed the election was stolen. When asked if he believed the election was stolen at the time of the call, he said, "I didn't know ... the state of play of the fraud allegations" at the time.
Graham also said he believes Trump will likely be the nominee for the 2024 election against President Joe Biden and vowed to support him if he receives the nomination. He previously fought the subpoena by the special grand jury all the way to the Supreme Court, a request which was ultimately rejected on Nov. 1.
The 26-member special grand jury, which is separate from the grand jury that indicted Trump and his associates last month, spent around seven months hearing from more than 75 witnesses as part of the investigation.
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Trump and 18 other associates, including several of his former attorneys, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and former Justice Department official Jeffery Clark, were indicted last month in a sweeping 41-count racketeering case alleging they conspired to overturn the results of the election in the Peach State. The indictment centered on a separate post-election call to Raffensperger in which Trump urged him to "find" a specific number of votes needed to win the state's election.
A trial in the case could begin as soon as Oct. 23 for up to three co-defendants who have invoked their speedy trial rights. A judge is slated to decide next week if the other defendants, including Trump, will face trial at a later date, possibly in early March.