Appeals Court Rules Sen. Lindsey Graham Must Testify In Georgia Election Fraud Case

After Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) refused to comply with a grand jury subpoena over his attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election, a Georgia judge ruled that the senator must testify last month.

The subpoena came from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and calls for Graham to appear before a special grand jury for questioning.

Graham argued that he was protected by the Constitution’s “speech and debate” clause protecting speech by members of Congress.

U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May rejected the senator’s argument of immunity from state judicial proceedings because of his position as a legislator. “In sum, the Court finds that there are considerable areas of potential grand jury inquiry falling outside the Speech or Debate Clause’s protections,” May wrote.

The judge stated that Graham’s motion was invalid due to “extraordinary circumstances” surrounding the summons.

“Additionally, sovereign immunity fails to shield Senator Graham from testifying before the Special Purpose Grand Jury,” May continued. “Finally, though Senator Graham argues that he is exempt from testifying as a high-ranking government official, the Court finds that the District Attorney has shown extraordinary circumstances and a special need for Senator Graham’s testimony on issues relating to alleged attempts to influence or disrupt the lawful administration of Georgia’s 2022 elections.”

The senator’s legal team then released a statement and said they would be seeking to appeal the ruling.

“The Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause prevents a local official from questioning a Senator about how that Senator did his job,” the statement read. “Here, Senator Graham was doing his due diligence before the Electoral Count Act certification vote — where he voted to certify the election. Although the district court acknowledged that Speech or Debate may protect some of Senator Graham’s activities, she nevertheless ignored the constitutional text and binding Supreme Court precedent, so Senator Graham plans to appeal to the 11th Circuit.”

This week, the 11th Circuit also brushed back Graham and order him to testify before the grand jury.