Supreme Court denies Lindsey Graham appeal to block subpoena in election subversion case
The court agreed that Graham can be required to provide
testimony to a grand jury about matters that aren’t related to his
official congressional work.
The Supreme Court has denied Sen.
Lindsey Graham’s emergency bid to block a subpoena from Atlanta-area
prosecutors investigating Donald Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020
election.
The court, with no noted dissent,
agreed that Graham can be required to provide testimony to a grand jury
about matters that aren’t related to his official congressional work.
Anything on his legislative business would be off limits, the high
court’s order said.
Prosecutors in Fulton County have
emphasized that they don’t plan to question Graham about his legislative
work but are probing Graham’s December 2020 phone calls to Georgia
state officials amid a recount and legal challenges by Trump.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad
Raffensperger has characterized Graham’s outreach as an effort to
influence the course of the recount in the state. But Graham has claimed
he made the calls as part of an informal investigation meant to inform
his legislative responsibilities. He contends that any effort by
prosecutors to probe these calls would be a violation of the
constitutional protections afforded to federal lawmakers.
The Constitution’s “speech or
debate” clause largely protects members of Congress from facing legal
scrutiny for anything connected to their official business. Graham cited
the clause as he argued that he should be entirely immune from Fulton
County’s subpoena. But the justices noted in a brief rejection of
Graham’s motion that the lower courts had taken steps to ensure the
senator would not face questions about his legislative work.
