Supreme Court Rejects Graham’s Bid To Avoid Testifying In Georgia Election Probe

Topline

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an attempt by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to avoid testifying in a Georgia grand jury probe into former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, after months of legal challenges from the senator.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol.

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Key Facts

In an unsigned order, the Supreme Court denied Graham’s request to block a subpoena to appear before the Atlanta-area panel, which was launched by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) in 2021.

There were no public dissents to the court’s order.

Last week, Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily halted a lower court ruling that required Graham to appear before the Georgia grand jury until the Supreme Court could review the case further, but Thomas didn’t rule on the case’s merits.

Graham—who is scheduled to testify on November 17—had filed an emergency request asking the justices to block the testimony, and has argued he doesn’t need to appear because of the Constitution’s “speech or debate clause,” which blocks members of Congress from facing criminal or civil lawsuits for their legislative work.

In the Supreme Court’s order, the justices noted the lower courts have already ruled Graham does not have to testify on topics related to his legislative activities, and added that the senator could still object to certain questions.

Key Background

The grand jury is investigating Trump and his allies’ post-election conduct and has subpoenaed a host of people close to the former president, including Graham, Trump’s former personal attorney Rudy Giuiliani, conservative legal scholar John Eastman, and Trump-allied lawyers Jenna Ellis, Cleta Mitchell and Kenneth Chesebro. Willis has said she wants to question Graham over a phone call between the senator and Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), whom Trump pressured to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s victory in the state. Raffensperger said Graham asked whether the secretary of state had the authority to reject absentee ballots, which the secretary of state interpreted as an attempt to throw out legally cast ballots (Graham says he never encouraged Raffensperger to toss out ballots, and was merely asking about Georgia’s procedures). Graham made at least two phone calls to Raffensperger and his team about absentee ballots and also referenced allegations of widespread voter fraud like those peddled by Trump and his team, Willis wrote in the subpoena for Graham to testify.

What To Watch For

The Fulton County special grand jury could take a year to complete its probe, after which it plans to issue a report that could recommend criminal charges, though a separate grand jury would need to indict Trump or any others involved. Graham’s lawyers have said prosecutors told them Graham is a witness, not a target in the investigation.

Tangent

Willis has said the grand jury investigation could lead to prison sentences for those involved in Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. She told the Washington Post in September the panel has heard credible allegations that indicate people committed serious crimes. The panel has identified at least 17 people as targets in the probe, including Giuliani, she said at the time.

Surprising Fact

Prosecutors plan to decide later this fall whether to ask Trump to testify before the panel, Willis told the Post in September.