On Friday, September 8, the report from the special purpose grand jury in Georgia, which suggested charges in the 2020 election interference investigation conducted by the Fulton County district attorney, was made public. According to Georgia law,^[1]Acts and Resolutions of the Second Session of the 153rd General Assembly of the State of Georgia, 2016. 2016 186 (2016). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Session Laws Library. the special purpose grand jury could not issue indictments on its own, only provide recommendations. Although the original intention was to leave this report sealed, its recommendations became reality on August 15th, when a grand jury handed down racketeering indictments^[2]Indictment, Fulton Superior Court, the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump, et al. (2023). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Presidential Impeachment Library against former President Donald Trump and 18 others.

As always, we’re dedicated to keeping our valued customers in the loop about the latest news, so we’ve made this report readily available and fully searchable in HeinOnline. Read it for yourself or join us as we take a look at the key takeaways.

Streamlining the Recommendations

The 26-member special grand jury, separate from the grand jury responsible for indicting Trump and his associates, conducted an extensive seven-month investigation, during which they heard from 75 witnesses.^[3]Special Purpose Grand Jury Final Report, Fulton County, State of Georgia (2023). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Criminal Justice and Criminology database. While the report omits specifics regarding the evidence considered in formulating the recommendations, it does show several places where the vote wasn’t unanimous, indicated by yay, nay, or abstain. The special purpose grand jury recommended charges against 39 people, twice as many as those who were initially charged. The opinion of the jury is that these 39 people should face nearly 160 counts of violating more than a dozen state laws.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis decided not to charge all the individuals recommended in the report for several reasons. Some of these individuals have immunity deals, others have federal protection, or there simply was not sufficient evidence to prove charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Here is a list of individuals who were not indicted, but recommended in the report:

• U.S. Senator (R-S.C.) Lindsey Graham
• Former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn
• Former U.S. Senators (R-G.A.) David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler
• Former Georgia state Senator William Ligon
• Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones
• Former Trump campaign attorneys Cleta Mitchell, Lin Wood, Kurt Hilbert, and Alex Kaufman
• 13 of the 16 “fake electors”

In addition, the report states that the jury believes one or more witnesses committed perjury^[4]Special Purpose Grand Jury Final Report, Fulton County, State of Georgia (2023). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Criminal Justice and Criminology database. during their testimonies.

Key Figures

Within this report, the special grand jury accused current Senator Lindsey Graham and several others of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO)^[5]Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, 1980. 1980 vol. I 405. This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Session Laws Library. law, a statute typically associated with organized crime. This allegation centered on their attempt to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results, where Trump was defeated by now-President Joe Biden.

Moreover, three of the “fake electors” who were charged were David Shader, Cathy Latham, and Georgia state Senator Shawn Still. A footnote explains^[6]Special Purpose Grand Jury Final Report, Fulton County, State of Georgia (2023). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Criminal Justice and Criminology database. that one juror voted against recommending indictments of former Senators Perue and Loeffler, as they were simply appealing to their political parties.

The individuals mentioned in the report represent some of Trump’s allies. Among them is Cleta Mitchell,^[7]Special Purpose Grand Jury Final Report, Fulton County, State of Georgia (2023). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Criminal Justice and Criminology database. who received a unanimous juror recommendation for four charges. She is most known for participating in the telephone call on January 2, 2021, between Trump and Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, during which Trump urged Raffensperger to assist in locating sufficient votes to overturn the election’s outcome in Georgia.

A former White House aide, Michael Roman, who served as the director of Trump’s Election Day operations, was surprisingly not included in this report. He is the only person who was indicted but wasn’t initially named in the report.

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