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| Photo Credit: AP. |
A federal judge Monday ordered U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham to testify before a special grand jury in Atlanta investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies broke any laws in their bid to overturn the his election defeat in the state.
Sen. Graham
was initially subpoenaed but attorneys for the South Carolina Republican argued
that his position as a U.S. senator provided him immunity from having to appear
before the investigation panel and urged the judge to dismiss the subpoena, The
Associated Press reports. The subpoena requested the senator to appear before
the special grand jury on August 23.
U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May wrote in an order Monday that immunities related to his role as a senator do not protect him from having to testify. He plans to appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The
Associated Press reported that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis
opened the investigation last year and a special grand jury held its sitting
this year at her request. Willis filed petitions that sought to compel
testimony from seven Trump advisers and associates.
What phone calls did Graham make to Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger to overturn Trump's defeat?
Prosecutors
want to ask Graham about phone calls they say he made to Georgia Secretary of
State Brad Raffensperger and his staff in the weeks following Trump’s election
loss to President Joe Biden.
Graham in an
argument said a provision of the Constitution provides absolute protection
against a senator being questioned about legislative acts but the judge found
there are “considerable areas of potential grand jury inquiry” that fall
outside that provision’s scope, according to The Associated Press.
Graham also said “sovereign immunity” protects a senator from being summoned by a state prosecutor but the judge rejected that line of argument.
Graham also
argued that Willis, a Democrat, had not demonstrated extraordinary
circumstances necessary to compel testimony from a high-ranking official, an
argument the judge disagreed, and determined that Willis has shown
“extraordinary circumstances and a special need” for Graham’s testimony on
issues related to an alleged attempt to influence or disrupt the election in Georgia.
Graham’s
lawyers said the senator was making inquiries that were part of his legislative
duties, as it relates to certification of the vote and to the proposal of
election-related legislation, according to The Associated Press.
The judge
said that ignores “the fact that individuals on the calls have publicly
suggested that Senator Graham was not simply engaged in legislative fact-finding
but was instead suggesting or implying that Georgia election officials change
their processes or otherwise potentially alter the state’s results.”
Graham “questioned
Secretary Raffensperger and his staff about reexamining certain absentee
ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable
outcome for former President Donald Trump,” in calls make after Trump was
defeated in the 2020 general election, Willis wrote in a petition, according to
The Associated Press.
Willis wrote
that Graham also “made reference to allegations of widespread voter fraud in
the November 2020 election in Georgia, consistent with public statements made
by known affiliates of the Trump Campaign.”
Trump made
repeated efforts with his allies in bid to overturn his election defeat in the
2020 polls.
Trump urged Raffensperger to find more votes to overturn his election defeat
Willis said
the investigation also includes Trump’s January 2, 2021 phone call with
Raffensperger during which Trump urged Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn
his loss in Georgia.
“I just want
to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump said during that
call.