A federal appeals court panel on Thursday unanimously rejected a request by Sen. Lindsey Graham to block a subpoena for her testimony before a Georgia grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump for criminal interference in the state’s 2020 presidential election.
Republican Graham had asked the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to suspend an order that forced him to give his testimony, issued by a federal district judge in Georgia.
Among other things, the Fulton County special grand jury wants to question him about phone calls he made to local election officials shortly after Election Day 2020, when Trump and his allies were trying to reverse his defeat in that state.
Graham, a Trump ally, argued that the subpoena violated the US Constitution’s speech and debate clause, which protects members of Congress from legal risks for their comments related to legislative matters. But the 11th Circuit dismissed that argument: “Graham has failed to show that this approach will violate his rights under the Speech and Speech Clause,” they said.
“Even assuming that the Clause protects informal legislative inquiries, the district court’s approach ensures that Senator Graham will not be questioned about such inquiries,” the appeals court said.
“As the court found, there is a significant dispute as to whether his phone calls with Georgia election officials were legislative investigations,” the appeals court ruling said. “The court’s partial annulment allowed for a process through which that dispute can be resolved.”
Graham could ask the Supreme Court to block the subpoena.
