Lindsey Graham again seeks to block Georgia grand jury election probe appearance

Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Sen. Lindsey Graham, R.-S.C., filed a new brief in court Wednesday, his latest attempt to avoid testifying in front of a special grand jury in Georgia.

Graham, 67, argued the federal court should block the subpoena requiring him to provide answers "on all topics" and that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be required to provide a more specific line of questioning, according to court documents.

Graham's brief filed on Wednesday expands his previously-stated argument that the two calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after the 2020 presidential election are protected as "legislative acts" under the U.S. Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause.

Graham argued Willis "should bear the burden of identifying the questions she wants to ask or, at a minimum, the specific topics she wants to cover," and also "must offer evidence that those topics are not protected by the Clause."

Willis' probe is looking into possible attempts by former President Donald Trump to interfere with the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Last Friday, a federal judge denied a motion to delay Graham's testimony before the special grand jury. He had filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on Thursday to stay her earlier decision not to quash his subpoena to appear before the Fulton County grand jury.

An appeals court has now instructed May to consider whether the subpoena should be partially quashed or modified because of the Clause.

"The subpoena should be quashed in its entirety. But, as explained here and in Senator Graham's other papers, the Court must at minimum quash the subpoena to the extent the Court determines that the Speech or Debate Clause applies to the topics for which the District Attorney seeks questioning," reads Graham's brief.

"Thus, this Court should at a minimum issue an order partially quashing the subpoena to protect Senator Graham's investigation and the motives behind it."

Trump's former personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani also attempted to delay and avoid appearing in front of the same special grand jury. But two weeks ago, Giuliani sat and answered questions for several hours about efforts in the state to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election.

Giuliani was involved in Trump's post-election efforts in late 2020 and early 2021 after Democrat Joe Biden defeated the former president, which included moves in Georgia, where Biden won the state's 16 key electoral votes.