Sen. Graham Requests Appeals Court Reject Georgia Subpoena (Newsmax)
By Luca Cacciatore | Tuesday, 11 October 2022 07:35 PM EDT
Sen. Lindsey Graham asked a federal appeals court on Tuesday to revoke a subpoena from Fulton County, Georgia's investigation into former President Donald Trump's alleged 2020 election interference, The Hill reported.
The South Carolina Republican's move follows a partial rejection of the subpoena last month by federal District Judge Leigh Martin May in the Northern District of Georgia, who barred questioning related to Graham's own vote to certify the election.
However, Graham's attorneys believe that ruling was insufficient, arguing in their latest appeal that May failed to consider several constitutional arguments that could each independently merit a complete blocking.
The first involved the motivation of the subpoena, which Graham's attorneys claim is a backdoor way "to question Senator Graham about the motives for his legislative activity" and thus outside the special grand jury's scope.
Another argument involved the sovereign immunity rule, which prevents a state court from probing a federal official about their legislative actions taken in office.
But the third argument went even further – floating a precedent that protects high-ranking officials from testimony except in "extraordinary circumstances."
The request comes amid a local probe stemming from Trump's leaked call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, where the former president appears to ask the state official to "find" the necessary 11,000 votes needed to win the state.
District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat who runs the special grand jury, has already requested subpoenas from former House Speaker New Gingrich, R-Ga., former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, and former Trump White House attorney Eric Herschmann.