Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Sen. Lindsey Graham appeared before a Georgia grand jury early Tuesday to testify about alleged tampering in the 2020 Presidential Election.
The senator from South Carolina arrived at the courthouse in Fulton County at about 8 a.m., according to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office. His hearing was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. About two hours after arriving at the courthouse, Graham was spotted leaving, NBC News reported.
Graham made several unsuccessful attempts to avoid adhering to the court order to testify, including requesting an injunction from the Supreme Court.
It has not been confirmed what questions Graham was asked Tuesday, and what questions he answered. Prosecutors were allowed to follow specific lines of questioning in their investigation and Graham had the ability to object to questions outside of those boundaries.
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The questioning allowed is bound specifically to efforts to persuade Georgia election officials to subvert the election results. Graham was subpoenaed on the basis of comments from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who said Graham was among representatives of the Republican party who contacted him after the election in an attempt to overturn the election results in favor of former President Donald Trump.
Raffensperger told the Washington Post in 2020 that Graham and other prominent Republicans pressured him to subvert the election results. Graham argued that he should not have to submit to a subpoena to testify in Georgia because his conversation with Raffensperger was legislative in nature and is constitutionally protected.
On Oct. 21, the District of Northern Georgia's 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Graham must testify in the election probe. Graham then sought help from the conservative majority in the Supreme Court to shield him from testifying. Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily did so, but the court eventually rejected his request for a stay earlier this month.
Graham is the highest-ranking elected official to testify before the Georgia grand jury in the investigation so far. Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn is also ordered to testify but was granted a stay by the court of appeals while he continues to challenge his subpoena, according to CNN.
