A special purpose jury empaneled to consider the evidence had recommended charging 39 people in total. This includedGraham,a long-time Trump loyalist,as well as other high-profile Republicans,among them former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Georgia state senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
However,Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis chose not to take up the recommendations,which likely meant she did not believe there was sufficient evidence to convict them beyond reasonable doubt.
Graham became part of the Fulton County inquiry over a phone call he made days after the 2020 election to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger,asking whether Raffensperger had the power to toss out all mail-in ballots (postal votes) in certain counties.
At the time,Raffensperger – whose job is to run Georgia’s state and federal elections – said he was uncomfortable by Graham’s call as the South Carolina Republican seemed to be asking him to improperly find a way to set aside legally cast ballots.
However,Graham has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Asked in November 2020 if he asked Raffensperger to throw out votes,Graham replied:“That’s ridiculous. I talked to him about how you verify signatures.”
On Friday,US time,he told reporters:“I called around different states,including Georgia,as a sitting United States senator and chairman[of] the Judiciary Committee. I eventually certified the election in all states – including Georgia.