ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp was one of Georgia’s Republican officials who refused to help Donald J. Trump overturn his 2020 election loss in the state — a decision that had him hailed as a hero in some quarters.
And yet Mr. Kemp’s attorneys showed up in an Atlanta courtroom on Thursday to argue that the governor shouldn’t be helping the ongoing criminal investigation into election meddling by testifying before a special grand jury. Mr. Kemp’s legal team has accused Fani T. Willis, a Democrat and the local prosecutor leading the investigation, of politicizing the investigation and wants any testimony to take place after polls close on his reelection bid in November.
In a sign of how far her case stretches, Ms Willis also moved Thursday to compel testimony from a number of other Trump advisers, including Mark Meadows, his former White House chief of staff, and Sidney Powell, an attorney who created the most aggressive conspiracy theories and falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen. And Ms Willis indicated in court filings that her investigation now includes “an alleged breach of election data” in rural Coffee County, Georgia, which was part of a larger effort by Trump allies to infiltrate electoral systems in swing states.
In court, Mr. Kemp’s attorneys made a number of arguments as to why he should not comply with the subpoena in the first place, but they were met with skepticism by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert CI McBurney, who did not immediately issue a ruling.
“The governor doesn’t think he’s outside the reach of the law, but he is just outside the reach of this particular subpoena,” said S. Derek Bauer, one of Mr. Kemp’s attorneys.
Mr. Kemp, who is in a close race for re-election with Stacey Abrams, a Democrat, has been trying to maintain a difficult balancing act since falling into Mr. Trump’s favor. The former president pissed at Mr. Kemp in 2020 after the governor denied Mr. Trump’s request to call a special session of the Georgia Legislature so a panel of pro-Trump electors could be appointed in place of the legitimate ones Joseph R. deserved. Biden Jr., who defeated Mr. Trump by nearly 12,000 state votes.
At one point, Mr. Trump called Mr. Kemp “the worst ‘electoral integrity’ governor in the country.”
Since then, Mr. Kemp has found a way to stay politically alive, despite his name drawing boos from Trump supporters at Republican rallies and events. In May, he crushed Mr. Trump’s handpicked Republican lead candidate, former US Senator David Perdue, by focusing on his record of conservative political achievement and economic success and largely avoiding the Mr. Trump topic.
But the federal election campaign presents its own complex calculations. Though polls in recent months have shown Mr. Kemp leading Ms. Abrams, she is a formidable fundraiser who hopes to ride a wave of shifting demographics and renewed concerns about Republican overreach on issues like abortion.
Charles S. Bullock III, a professor of political science at the University of Georgia, said Mr. Kemp might be cautious about shutting down some centrist voters, but the bigger risk could be shutting down Mr. Trump’s sizable base in Georgia.
Understand the Trump election investigation in Georgia
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Understand the Trump election investigation in Georgia
An imminent legal threat to Trump. Atlanta District Attorney Fani T. Willis has been investigating whether former President Donald J. Trump and his allies interfered in Georgia’s 2020 election. The case could become one of the most dangerous legal problems facing Mr. Trump. Here’s what you should know:
Understand the Trump election investigation in Georgia
What are prosecutors looking for? In addition to Mr. Trump’s call to Mr. Raffensperger, Ms. Willis has a conspiracy by Trump allies to send fake Georgia voters to Washington and false statements about the election results that led the spearhead, Rudolph W. Giuliani, to lawmakers of the state had made efforts to keep Mr. Trump in power as his personal attorney.
Understand the Trump election investigation in Georgia
The possible fees. Experts say Ms Willis appears to be building a case that could target several defendants on conspiracy to commit voter fraud or extortion for involvement in a coordinated plot to undermine the election.
“He can’t afford to offend her,” said Dr. bullock “I mean, he’s pretty well positioned right now, similar to Glenn Youngkin in Virginia,” he added, referring to that state’s governor, a Republican who kept his distance from Mr. Trump during his 2021 campaign.
“He’s not perceived as Trump’s man,” said Dr. Bullock on Mr. Kemp. “On the other hand, he was very careful not to alienate Trump voters. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want to testify now, because he’s afraid that things he says might later be viewed negatively by Trump people and they might resent him.”
Mr. Kemp’s team insists in his legal filings that “through delays and artificial time limits, the Office of the Attorney’s Office manipulated the governor’s interaction with the investigation into causing it to reach a crescendo in the middle of the election cycle.” His attorneys have also claimed that the Ms. Willis’ prosecution team failed to live up to promises and abused the Kemp team as they worked behind the scenes to find a way for Mr. Kemp to testify voluntarily.
Ms Willis and her team have vigorously refuted those claims, saying her office gave the governor plenty of leeway and first began negotiations with him last year, but that his attorneys made unreasonable demands, including a desire to see questions in advance .
Amid the standoff, Ms Abrams has apparently calculated that Mr Kemp committed an unforced error, allowing her to remind centrist voters that prior to his dramatic break with Mr Trump, Mr Kemp was an early and ardent supporter of Trumpism. A typical 2018 internet advertisement for Mr. Kemp featured a photo of Mr. Trump and a simple quote from him: “Sooooo important, go out and vote for Brian!”
Ms. Abrams has already taken up Mr. Kemp’s suggestion to delay his testimony. A video she shared last week, a day after Mr. Kemp’s attorneys filed a motion with the district attorney’s office to have the subpoena vacated, began by saying, “Why doesn’t Brian Kemp testify in court?” She also told CNN that Mr. Kemp “has been walking around with the notion that he is an anti-Trump moderate, but we know he has labeled himself a Trump conservative.”
She added, “If he’s as concerned about the state of our democracy as he would hope people think he is, he would show up for this incredibly important subpoena and testify in a timely manner.”
Mr. Kemp’s attorneys argued that his subpoena should be vacated for a number of reasons. They urged the governor to testify so close to the November election, writing in a court filing: “Shows at best disregard for unnecessary risk to the political process and at worst an attempt to influence the November 2022 election cycle.”
On Thursday, they argued that the subpoena should be invalidated based on the concept of sovereign immunity, which bars the state government from being sued. Fulton County Chief District Attorney Donald Wakeford pushed back, saying it was a subpoena, not a lawsuit. “Why does state immunity apply to this?” he said.
Mr. Kemp’s lawyers also raised the issue of “executive privilege,” the idea that executive branch officers should be entitled to keep some information related to their official duties confidential.
At one point, before the governor’s attorneys, Judge McBurney stated that the concept of executive privilege did not exist in state statutes or jurisprudence. “You’re trying to apply that concept to this situation,” he said.
The special jury began its session in June and is tasked with investigating attempts to disrupt the lawful conduct of the 2020 Georgia election. She does not have the authority to return charges, but will eventually make recommendations as to whether prosecution is warranted. These recommendations could be taken up by a regular grand jury, which has the power to indict suspects.
Ms. Willis’ investigation has already identified at least 18 people as targets who could face criminal charges, including Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s former personal attorney. More than 30 people have already come before the special jury; Ms Willis has said she is considering a number of possible charges including conspiracy and racketeering.
On Thursday, while Gov. Kemp’s legal team was at work, Jenna Ellis, one of the attorneys who advised Mr. Trump on his strategy to reject the 2020 election result, was scheduled to testify behind closed doors before the special jury.
The District Attorney’s Office has stated in its legal filings that Ms. Ellis “personally authored at least two legal memoranda for former President Donald Trump and his attorneys” advising “that Vice President Mike Pence allegedly ignores certified Electoral College votes from Georgia and others.” should. disputed states on Jan. 6, 2021.” The bureau called it “part of a multi-state coordinated plan by the Trump campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 elections in Georgia and elsewhere.” Ms Ellis’ lawyer declined to comment.
Another attorney who advised Mr. Trump, Kenneth Chesebro, filed a motion Thursday to vacate a subpoena that required his testimony, arguing that he was protected by attorney-client privilege. In addition, Judge McBurney on Thursday dismissed an attempt by 11 Georgia Republicans to pose as Trump electors to keep Ms. Willis from serving her case.
Court documents filed Thursday show prosecutors are also seeking testimony from Phil Waldron, a Texas bar owner and former army colonel with an information warfare background who appeared before a Georgia Senate committee investigating voter fraud in December 2020.
Sean Keenan contributed coverage.
