The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to quash a grand jury subpoena in a Georgia prosecutor’s probe into alleged interference in the 2020 presidential election.
The decision is a victory for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose office is investigating phone calls Graham made to Georgia election officials at a time when then-President Donald Trump was contesting the result. As a result of the court action, the subpoena can now be enforced, although Graham could refuse to answer questions by invoking his right against self-incrimination under the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.
On Oct. 20, the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Graham’s attempt to avoid answering questions about phone calls he made to Georgia election officials after the 2020 election. Graham has argued that he made the calls as part of his duties leading up to Congress’ vote to certify the election results, and therefore the Fulton County special grand jury subpoena infringes upon the Constitution’s speech or debate clause, which protects lawmakers from investigations over comments they make in their official duties.
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