GOP Georgia Rep. Jody Hice strikes to quash subpoena from Trump election-meddling grand jury

Georgia Republican Rep. Jody Hice on Monday requested a federal decide to quash a subpoena demanding his testimony earlier than a state particular grand jury that’s investigating former President Donald Trump for doable felony interference within the state in the course of the 2020 election.

The identical grand jury in Atlanta beforehand was identified to have subpoenaed different Trump allies, amongst them Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who likewise has requested a federal decide in his house state to quash that demand.

The subpoena for Hice, which was issued June 29, didn’t develop into broadly identified Monday, when a movement by his legal professional searching for to have issues associated to the subpoena be heard in federal courtroom first grew to become public.

The subpoena referred to as for Hice to look Tuesday earlier than the Fulton County grand jury.

However that look was postponed till a federal decide has time to handle Hice’s movement to quash, in keeping with a discover in U.S. District Courtroom for the Northern District of Georgia.

The discover stated the delay was agreed to by Hice’s lawyer and the Fulton County District Lawyer’s Workplace, which is presenting proof to the grand jury.

A listening to on Hice’s movement to quash was set for July 25 in Atlanta federal courtroom.

Hice’s lawyer Loree Anne Paradise in a courtroom submitting argued that the grand jury subpoena violates the Structure’s “Speech or Debate Clause,” as a result of it “seems associated to Congressman Hice’s inquiries into alleged irregularities within the 2020 election, the Structure and implementing statute fees Congress with certifying the outcomes of presidential elections.”

“Congressman Hice was appearing squarely inside his Congressional jurisdiction and his actions might ‘not be questioned’ in any authorized continuing,” Paradise wrote.

The legal professional additionally stated underneath the so-called “high-ranking official doctrine,” the Fulton County district legal professional, who’s overseeing the presentation of proof to the grand jury, with a purpose to subpoena Hice, should first present that she couldn’t in any other case receive the knowledge she desires from different sources.

Hice had backed Trump in his efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia’s 2020 presidential vote. On the heels of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, throughout which a horde of Trump supporters invaded the halls of Congress, Hice voted towards certifying Biden’s victory.

In Could, Hice misplaced a main race through which he sought to switch Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger because the social gathering’s nominee for that workplace within the November midterm elections.

In January 2021, Raffensperger resisted a direct request from Trump to assist him “discover” sufficient votes in Georgia to reverse Biden’s victory within the state.

Hice was subpoenaed by the Fulton County Courtroom grand jury on June 29, in keeping with the discover from Paradise. It was not clear why Hice waited weeks after the subpoena was issued to have his lawyer transfer to quash it.

CNBC has requested remark from Paradise.