The Supreme Court denied Senator Lindsey Graham’s request to block a judge’s order for his testimony in a criminal investigation of Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
The South Carolina senator had requested an emergency hold on the judge’s order for him to appear before a grand jury in Fulton County.
The grand jury is looking to investigate a series of phone calls Graham made to Republican election officials ‘about re-examining certain absentee ballots in order to explore the possibility of more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump,’ the subpoena reads.
Specifically, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wants to ask Graham about calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in November 2020.
Graham asserts that these calls were part of a ‘fact-finding mission’ about the ongoing election certification, and constituted part of his duties as a US Senator.
The senator argued that he could not testify due to the Constitution’s ‘speech or debate’ clause, which says legislators ‘shall not be questioned in any other place’ for speech made in the process of fulfilling their duties.
However, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals ruled that Graham could be required to testify before the grand jury on October 20.
The Court of Appeals did note that Graham had the option to object to any questions about activity he feels was part of his legislative duties.
The Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision.
This is a breaking story, check back for updates…
from News – Metro https://ift.tt/GB69PQZ
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