Jody Hice of Georgia is fighting a subpoena seeking to have him testify before a special grand jury that is investigating whether former President Donald Trump and others interfered in the 2020 election in the state.
Hice's lawyer said in a court filing that Hice was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury in Atlanta on Tuesday. Hice made a motion to quash the subpoena.
His lawyer wrote in the filing that any discussions Hice had as he investigated the election were within his authority as a member of Congress and were protected by the constitution. The filing says that high-ranking officials, such as members of Congress, shouldn't be called as witnesses if they can't get the information they need from another source.
Hice wants his challenge to the subpoena heard in federal court instead of before the Fulton County Superior Court judge who is overseeing the grand jury.
The Fulton County District Attorney opened an investigation into whether Trump and his associates committed any crimes as they tried to overturn his narrow election loss. The grand jury was seated at her request.
The Secretary of State and Attorney General are two of the top Republicans in the state. The governor is going to give a statement on July 25.
Hice was one of several GOP lawmakers who attended a December 2020 meeting at the White House in which Trump allies discussed various ways to overturn Joe Biden's electoral win. The House Freedom Caucus, a conservative wing of the chamber, met with the White House to discuss ways to subvert the election results.
An effort was made to get an alternate slate of electors to proclaim Trump the winner in seven battleground states. The second plan was to ramp up a pressure campaign against the vice president when he presided over the ceremonial certification process in January of 2021.
The details of the White House meeting were given to the House committee by Cassidy Hutchinson.
Out-of-state witnesses were subpoenaed earlier this month. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani were close to Trump.
Graham is trying to fight the attempt to get him to testify in the case.
The group of 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate stating that Trump had won the state when it was actually Biden who got the most votes has been indicted by a democrat.
That's right.
A writer for the Associated Press contributed to the report.
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