Senator Graham receives a temporary pardon for testifying in the Trump-Georgia probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An appeals court has shelved U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s scheduled testimony Tuesday before a Georgia grand jury examining Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 election defeat, with the Case is remanded to a lower court for another look.

A federal judge on Monday dismissed Graham’s challenge to the grand jury testimony subpoena. Graham, a Republican, has argued that his position as a US Senator gives him immunity from appearing before the investigative committee. Continue reading

Sunday’s order from the Atlanta-based 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals is a temporary pardon for Graham, who otherwise would have had to testify Tuesday.

The testimony of Graham, a close Trump ally, could shed further light on Trump’s team’s coordinated efforts to reverse the 2020 results.

The Court of Appeals gave Graham another chance to challenge the subpoena based on the protections afforded lawmakers under the US Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause. This provision can protect the legislator from discussing the legislative activity.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asks Attorney General Merrick Garland (not pictured) questions during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee in the Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S. April 26, 2022. Greg Nash/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

“The district court shall expedite the notice of the parties in such manner as it deems appropriate,” Sunday’s order said.

The grand jury plans to question Graham about at least two phone calls he made with Georgia Foreign Minister Brad Raffensperger and his associates in the weeks following the November 2020 presidential election, in which Graham investigated the possibility of a re-examination of postal votes by prosecutors.

The Georgia probe is one of several legal issues facing the former president, whose Florida home was raided by federal agents this month and whose role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack is under separate investigation by a congressional panel.

Trump has falsely claimed that rampant voter fraud caused his loss in Georgia, a battleground state where President Joe Biden’s victory helped propel him into the White House.

The special grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia is conducting a criminal investigation into alleged wrongdoing. Trump was recorded in a Jan. 2, 2021 phone call pressuring a senior state official to “find” enough votes to reverse his loss to Biden in the state. He has denied any wrongdoing.

The grand jury also subpoenaed members of Trump’s former legal team. Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former personal attorney, testified before the special jury in Atlanta on Wednesday. Continue reading

Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Edited by Mike Scarcella, Mary Milliken and Lisa Shumaker

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