Matt Bush, FISM News
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A three-judge panel representing the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily paused a subpoena Sunday that called Sen. Linsey Graham to appear before a special grand jury that is investigating whether or not illegal efforts were made to overturn the 2020 Presidential election results in Georgia.
Sen. Graham (R.-S.C.) and his legal team initially attempted to quash the subpoena but that request was denied by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May last Monday. Graham subsequently asked the court to put May’s decision on hold while he appealed. The district court denied that request on Friday.
Graham’s attorney then appealed that ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who CNN describes as “a Democrat who is leading the investigation into former President Donald Trump and his allies,” issued the initial subpoena for Graham to testify to the special grand jury.
Willis opened the investigation based on a phone call between President Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Willis and others argue that during that call, Trump “pressured” a state official to find enough votes to overturn President Trump’s loss in Georgia’s presidential election. The special grand jury has also subpoenaed members of President Trump’s legal team, including his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who was questioned for more than six hours.
According to Newsweek, Graham’s attorneys dismissed the subpoena calling it “all politics.” Graham’s attorneys wrote in a statement,
As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Graham was well within his rights to discuss with state officials the processes and procedures around administering elections. Should it stand, the subpoena issued today would erode the constitutional balance of power and the ability of a Member of Congress to do their job.
Charges of “playing politics” have come into play in the case — which is being held in Democrat-dominated Fulton County, home to Georgia’s capital city of Atlanta — largely because the district attorney in charge of the case is a Democrat and the judge that issued the subpoena is an Obama appointee.
In her petition, Willis wrote that Graham asked about “reexamining certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump.” She also wrote that Graham “made reference to allegations of widespread voter fraud in the November 2020 election in Georgia, consistent with public statements made by known affiliates of the Trump Campaign.”
Graham’s attorneys, on the other hand, argued “that the calls were made as part of his legislative duties and that provision gives him absolute protection from having to testify in this case.”
The U.S. Constitution’s “Speech and Debate” clause protects members of Congress from legal questioning about legislative acts regardless of political ramifications.