Judge: Sen. Graham must testify in Georgia election probe

Lindsey Graham must testify before a special grand jury in Atlanta that is investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his associates broke any laws while trying to overturn his narrow 2020 general election loss in the state.

Attorneys for Graham argued that his position as a senator gave him immunity from having to testify. The immunities related to his role as a senator do not protect him in this case, and he must appear before the special grand jury in August.

A special grand jury with subpoena power was seated in May at the request of the district attorney. She filed petitions last month to get testimony from seven people.

Graham is accused of making calls to the Georgia Secretary of State's staff in the weeks after the election.

A provision of the Constitution protects a senator from being questioned about legislative actions, according to Graham. There are areas of potential grand jury inquiry that are outside the scope of the provision. Graham had argued that the principle of "sovereign immunity" would protect him from being summoned by a state prosecutor.

Graham argued that there were not extraordinary circumstances needed to compel testimony from a high ranking official. The judge found that there was a special need for Graham's testimony on certain issues related to the election in Georgia.

Kevin Bishop referred to what Graham said when asked about the investigation last week. When asked about his efforts to fight appearing to testify, Graham said, "We will take this as far as we need to take it"

Graham said that he had to vote on certifying an election. It's ridiculous. The law needs to be weaponized to be effective. The courts will be used. We will do everything in our power to make sure that people like me are able to do their jobs without fear of prosecution.

Graham questioned Secretary Raffensperger and his staff about reexamining certain Absentee Ballots in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump.

There are allegations of widespread voter fraud in the November 2020 election in Georgia, consistent with public statements made by known affiliates of the Trump Campaign.

Republican and Democratic state election officials, courts and even Trump's attorney general all found no evidence of voter fraud that would have changed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

That's right.

Meg Kinnard is a writer for the AP.