Sen. Lindsey Graham will problem Georgia grand jury subpoena in Trump election interference probe

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina will problem a grand jury subpoena looking for his testimony as a part of an investigation into doable prison interference in Georgia’s 2020 election by former President Donald Trump and his allies, the lawmaker’s attorneys stated Wednesday,

Fulton County, Georgia, investigators have advised them that Graham, an ally of Trump’s, is “neither a topic nor goal of the investigation, merely a witness,” his attorneys stated.

They claimed that if the subpoena for Graham is upheld, it’s going to erode the constitutional steadiness of energy and have an effect on his potential to do his job as a member of Congress.

“That is all politics. Fulton County is engaged in a fishing expedition and dealing in live performance with the January 6 Committee in Washington,” Graham’s legal professionals, Bart Daniel and Matt Austin, stated in a press release.

A Fulton County decide on Tuesday signed off on subpoenas issued by a particular grand jury in Atlanta to Graham and 6 attorneys — together with former New York Metropolis mayor and former federal prosecutor Rudy Giuliani — who labored immediately for or informally suggested Trump’s presidential marketing campaign in its effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in Georgia.

Trump has falsely claimed since late 2020 that Biden received Georgia’s election, and that of different swing states, because of widespread poll fraud. Trump and his allies have defended their conduct in Georgia as a reputable response to such purported fraud.

The subpoena issued to Graham stated he made at the very least two calls to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his workers about “reexamining sure absentee ballots solid in Georgia with a view to discover the opportunity of a extra favorable end result for former President Donald Trump.”

Of their assertion Wednesday, Graham’s legal professionals stated that because the then-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, “Graham was nicely inside his rights to debate with state officers the processes and procedures round administering elections.”

“Ought to it stand, the subpoena issued immediately would erode the constitutional steadiness of energy and the flexibility of a Member of Congress to do their job,” the legal professionals stated. “Senator Graham plans to go to court docket, problem the subpoena, and expects to prevail.”

The Fulton County district legal professional opened a prison investigation final yr after it was revealed that Trump had referred to as Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, whereas he was nonetheless president, and requested him to “discover” him sufficient votes to overturn Biden’s win.

“All I wish to do is that this: I simply wish to discover 11,780 votes,” Trump advised Raffensperger.

That decision occurred 4 days earlier than the U.S. Congress started assembly in a joint session to substantiate the Electoral School victory of Biden.

A particular Home committee is investigating the riot on the U.S. Capitol that started that day, which for hours interrupted the joint session’s work.