U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks during the third day of Senate Senate Committee confirmation hearings on Judge Jackson’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court at Capitol Hill in Washington on May 23. March 2022.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina will challenge a grand jury citation to ask for her testimony as part of an investigation into possible criminal interference in Georgia’s 2020 election by former President Donald Trump and his allies, the legislator’s lawyers said Wednesday.
Investigators in Fulton County, Georgia, have told them that Graham, a Trump ally, is “neither the subject nor the target of the investigation, just a witness,” his lawyers said.
They claimed that if the citation to Graham is maintained, it will erode the constitutional balance of power and affect his ability to do his job as a member of Congress.
“All of this is political. Fulton County is involved in a fishing expedition and is working in concert with the Jan. 6 Committee in Washington,” Graham’s attorneys Bart Daniel and Matt Austin said in a statement.
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A Fulton County judge on Tuesday signed subpoenas issued by a special special jury in Atlanta to Graham and six attorneys, including former New York City Mayor and former federal prosecutor Rudy Giuliani, who worked directly or advised informally Trump’s presidential campaign in his endeavor. to nullify President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in Georgia.
The summons issued to Graham said he made at least two calls to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff to “re-examine certain absentee ballots issued in Georgia to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for Georgia. former President Donald Trump. “
In his statement Wednesday, Graham’s attorneys said that as then-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, “Graham had the right to discuss with state officials the processes and procedures related to the administration of elections.”
“Should it be upheld, the subpoena issued today would erode the constitutional balance of power and the ability of a member of Congress to do his or her job,” lawyers said. Senator Graham plans to go to court, challenge the summons and hope to prevail. “
The Fulton County District Attorney opened a criminal investigation last year after it was revealed that Trump had called Raffensperger on January 2, 2021, while he was still president, and asked him to “find” enough votes. to nullify Biden’s victory.
“All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes,” Trump told Raffensperger.
That call came four days before the U.S. Congress began meeting in a joint session to confirm Biden’s victory in the Electoral College.
A special committee of the House is investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol that began that day, which for hours interrupted the work of the joint session.
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