ATLANTA (AP) – A federal judge said Friday that Sen. Lindsey Graham’s appearance before a special grand jury investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and others tried to illegally influence the 2020 election in Georgia is not should delay to allow him to continue to challenge. in court
Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May ordered Graham to honor his special grand jury subpoena. Graham’s lawyers appealed that order to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking May to stay his decision and bar him from being questioned by the special grand jury while the case unfolds. ‘appeal May rejected that request in her order on Friday.
“Under these circumstances, further delay in Senator Graham’s testimony would greatly increase the overall delay in conducting the grand jury investigation,” May wrote. “Therefore, further delay poses a significant risk of general obstruction of the grand jury investigation, and the Court therefore finds that granting a stay would almost certainly result in material prejudice to the grand jury and its investigation”.
Graham is currently scheduled to testify on Tuesday. But he still has another motion to stay May’s ruling pending before the 11th Circuit.
Representatives for Graham did not immediately respond to messages Friday seeking comment.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened the investigation early last year and in July filed motions to compel the testimony of seven Trump advisers and associates, including Graham.
Former New York mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has been told he is a target of the investigation, testified before the special grand jury for nearly six hours on Wednesday. Two other lawyers who advised Trump, John Eastman and Jenna Ellis, were ordered this week to appear in court later this month. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp filed a motion Wednesday to quash a subpoena for his testimony.
The investigation, originally sparked by a January 2, 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, is one of several pending legal threats Trump faces. Willis has said he is considering compelling the former president himself to testify before a special grand jury.
Lawyers for Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, have argued that a provision of the US Constitution provides absolute protection against a senator being questioned about legislative acts. But the judge found that there are “considerable areas of potential grand jury investigation” that fall outside the reach of that provision. The judge also rejected Graham’s argument that the principle of “sovereign immunity” protects a US senator from being subpoenaed by a state prosecutor.
Graham also argued that Willis, a Democrat, had not shown the extraordinary circumstances necessary to compel the testimony of a senior official. But the judge disagreed, finding that Willis had shown “extraordinary circumstances and a special need” for Graham’s testimony on matters related to an alleged attempt to influence or disrupt the Georgia election.
Willis and his team have said they want to question Graham about two phone calls they say he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff shortly after the 2020 general election. During those calls, Graham asked about “re-examining certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump,” Willis wrote in a petition.
Graham also “referred to allegations of widespread voter fraud in the November 2020 election in Georgia, consistent with public statements made by known Trump campaign affiliates,” he wrote.
Republican and Democratic state election officials across the country, courts and even Trump’s attorney general found there was insufficient evidence of voter fraud to affect the outcome of the election.
In asking May to suspend her decision, Graham’s lawyers argued that his immunity rights would be breached at the time he was questioned.
Willis’ team countered that delaying Graham’s testimony would harm the investigation. In addition to the facts it knows, it is also expected to shed light on other sources of information the special grand jury may want to pursue, they wrote. So waiting to talk to him “could delay” the entire investigation.
In the separate motion for a stay filed with the 11th Circuit, Graham’s attorneys argue that Senior Assistant District Attorney Donald Wakeford on Wednesday agreed to postpone scheduled testimony pending the outcome of the appeal. They included a voicemail Wakeford left for Graham’s attorney, Brian Lea.
Lea says in a statement filed with the motion that later that afternoon, Wakeford confirmed that Graham’s grand jury appearance would not move forward until the appeal was resolved. But then Wakeford emailed 20 minutes later “indicating that he did not” want to characterize the content of our response before writing it,” Lea wrote.
Lea said she contacted Wakeford several more times by phone and email, but did not hear back until Wakeford sent an email at 4:40 a.m. Friday saying the DA’s office district intended to oppose the stay and would argue that Graham should appear before the grand jury. jury as planned.
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Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
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