U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on Thursday ordered Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham to testify in the investigation of former President Donald Trump and associates’ alleged efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.
Investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis alleged that Graham called Georgia Secretary Brad Raffensperger and members of his staff shortly after the 2020 presidential election to question them about exploring “the possibility of a more favorable outcome” for then-President Donald Trump. May decided Thursday that Graham must testify, but said a clause in the U.S. Constitution “exempted him from questioning about “investigatory fact-finding on the telephone calls to Georgia election officials, including how such information related to his decision to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.”
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 21: Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State, testifies during the fourth hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The clause prevents a Congress member’s arrest “during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.”Graham’s defense contended that it prevented him from being forced to testify after he was issued a subpoena. (RELATED: Trump-Endorsed Democrat Wins Nomination In Heated New York Primary)
“We are pleased that the district court recognized that Senator Graham’s testimony is protected by the Speech or Debate Clause,” Graham’s office said in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He will continue to defend the institutional interests of the Senate and the Constitution before the Eleventh Circuit.”
After Graham skipped his scheduled Aug. 11 Fulton County court appearance, his communications director Kevin Bishop told the Daily Caller News Foundation he “never planned to attend” and his attorneys were arguing against the subpoena.
“We will take this as far as we need to take it. I was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and had to vote on certifying an election,” Graham said. “This weaponization of the law needs to stop.”
May initially ruled Aug. 15 that Graham was required to appear for testimony, but the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals froze that order six days later, telling her to review whether the subpoena must be partly quashed or revised under the speech and debate clause.
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