US Markets
Wednesday, July 13th, 2022 1:25 pm EDT
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has asked a federal judge to quash a subpoena for his testimony issued by a Georgia grand jury investigating possible criminal interference in that state’s 2020 election by former President Donald Trump.
Graham’s move in U.S. District Court in South Carolina came after a judge in Atlanta signed the Fulton County, Georgia, special grand jury’s subpoena to the Republican lawmaker on Monday.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered that Graham, a close ally of Trump, would have to testify on Aug. 2
In the 13-page motion for the court to quash the subpoena, Graham’s lawyers wrote, “the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause protects him from this legal process,” and that “sovereign immunity prohibits enforcement of the state court process on him as a federal officer.”
The attorneys also argued that “no extraordinary circumstances exist for compelling his testimony.”
Graham said in a statement, “What I’m trying to do is do my day job. If we open up county prosecutors being able to call every member of the Senate based on some investigation they think is good for the country, we’re opening Pandora’s Box.
The subpoena issued to Graham says that he made at least two calls to Georgia Secretary of State Brad 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 their motion, Graham’s lawyers wrote, “The District Attorney’s attempts to compel Senator Graham to appear are an abuse of process. Her attempts to force Senator Graham to travel to Georgia for seven weeks during the middle of the Senate session is a gross overreach, especially given the immunity and privilege provided by the Speech or Debate Clause, and sovereign immunity.”
CNBC has requested comment from Graham’s lawyers and the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, which is conducting the probe of Trump and others who participated in efforts to get Georgia to overturn the 2020 electoral win there by President Joe Biden.
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
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