On Monday, a federal judge ruled that Sen. Lindsey Graham must testify before a special grand jury investigating wether former President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to reverse the results in the 2020 election.
The South Carolina senator has tried to escape a subpoena from Fulton County prosecutors while his attorneys argue that, as a senator, he has immunity from appearing before the panel.
U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May? ruled that there are “considerable areas of potential grand jury inquiry” that fall outside that protection.
She also said senators do not have sovereign immunity from being called by state prosecutors, reported Fox News.
The ruling was in favor of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis?, who has been seeking testimony from Graham and other associates or advisers of Trump.
“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,” May wrote in her ruling.
Graham’s testimony will come on Aug. 23. Another judge ordered Rudy Giuliani to appear next week before a special grand jury in Atlanta.
The grand jury started hearing witnesses in June, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Willis said she wants to know more about two phone calls Graham had with Raffensperger and his staff following the election.
Last week during a news conference in South Carolina, Graham said “I was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and had to vote on certifying an election. This is ridiculous.”
“This weaponization of the law needs to stop. So I will use the courts. We will go as far as we need to go and do whatever needs to be done to make sure that people like me can do their jobs without fear of some county prosecutor coming after you,” he added.