ATLANTA — A new book is shedding light on testimony given by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in front of the special purpose grand jury that was convened to help decide whether to charge former President Donald Trump and others with trying to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
According to the book, “Find Me the Votes: A Hard-Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot to Steal an American Election,” authors Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman write that Graham threw Trump under the bus during his testimony in front of that grand jury.
“After fighting a four-month legal battle all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to block his grand jury subpoena — and losing — South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham turned on a dime ‘and threw Trump under the bus,’ according to a source familiar with his testimony,” Politico reported. “According to secret grand jury testimony in Fulton County confirmed by the authors, Graham testified that if you told Trump ‘That Martians came and stole the election, he’d probably believe you.’”
The authors claim Graham even testified that Trump cheated at golf.
“After Graham was finished testifying, he bumped into Fani Willis in a hallway and thanked her for the opportunity to tell his story. ‘That was so cathartic,’ he told Willis. ‘I feel so much better.’ Then, to the astonishment of one source who witnessed the scene, South Carolina’s senior senator hugged the Fulton County DA who was aggressively pursuing Trump,” Politico reported. “Willis’s reaction — ‘She was like “whatever, dude,”’ according to one witness of the strange encounter.”
Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis wrote in court filings that she believed Graham tried to pressure Georgia election officials to find votes and spread election fraud disinformation following the 2020 election.
Graham took his fight all the way to the US Supreme Court, but he was ultimately ordered to testify before the grand jury.
The authors write that Graham didn’t want to talk about a phone call he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking him about tossing out certain absentee ballots from certain Democratic-leading counties in a way that would favor then-President Trump.
Graham insisted the call was merely a fact-finding mission, trying to find out more about the election in Georgia before he cast his vote to certify the election, which he did on Jan. 6.
The grand jury was only convened for investigative purposes and could not indict any individuals implicated during the investigation.
Once the full grand jury report was released, it listed Graham as one of 39 people who jurors felt should have been indicted for trying to overturn the 2020 election here in Georgia.
“The grand jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it. The grand jury recommends that the District Attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling,” the report said.
Ultimately, a total of 19 people, including former President Donald Trump, would face charges in the investigation. To date, four people have taken plea deals in the case.