Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) called out Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for his reaction to narrowly avoiding an indictment.
A special grand jury recommended Graham 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. The recommendation came as a surprise to the South Carolina senator.
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“I think Lindsey Graham’s explanation doesn’t pass the laugh test,” Schiff said in a CNN interview Friday “You don’t, as a senator, a House member, or another elected official, call a secretary of state in some other state and try to get them to toss out votes. That is not the least bit part of the job description, and he’s lucky not to be indicted.”
Schiff commended the grand jury for taking its job seriously, voting 13 to 7 to recommend an indictment against Graham. Still, he acknowledged that Willis’s burden of proof was likely higher than that of the jury and it was a “rational decision” to avoid charging the senator.
“I was totally surprised,” Graham said after the jury’s report was published. “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.”
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Instead, Trump and 18 other associates, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and former Justice Department official Jeffery Clark, would be handed down indictments 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 Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump urged him to “find” a specific number of votes needed to win the state’s election. Graham also phoned Raffensperger around the same time, which prompted the recommendation.
A trial in the case could begin as soon as Oct. 23 for as many as three co-defendants because they invoked their speedy trial rights. A judge is slated to decide next week if the other defendants, including Trump, will face trial possibly in early March.
