Sen. Graham Testimony in Georgia Election Probe Put on Hold

Facts

• The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ​on Sun. agreed to temporarily halt Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) testimony before the grand jury investigating possible illegal efforts by former Pres. Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.
• Graham was served a subpoena instructing him to appear before the special grand jury on Tuesday. District Judge Leigh Martin May last Mon. denied Graham’s request to quash the subpoena, and Fri. rejected his effort to put her decision on hold while he appealed.
• Graham has argued that testifying would be “in contravention of his constitutional immunity,” but this was rejected by the judge. The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals’ most recent ruling sends the decision back to the lower court.
• May must decide whether to kill or modify some elements of the subpoena in accordance with Graham’s protections before returning it to the appeals court for further considerations.
• Prosecutors want Graham to testify about his phone calls to Ga. Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff in the weeks following the 2020 presidential election, which Graham has argued were part of his duties as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• These decisions come after the grand jury recently heard from Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani on his efforts to promote the ex-president’s election fraud claims.

Sources: New York Post, Independent, Daily Mail, PBS NewsHour, and NPR Online News.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by FOX News: The Democrats have only increased their anti-democratic campaign against Trump and his supporters, and the targeting of Graham is just another example of their desire to make it impossible for Trump to run in 2024. Thankfully, the courts are doing their job and preserving justice by halting Graham’s testimony.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by Daily Kos: Though Graham and his legal team say this is a political hit job against him, the evidence seems to clearly indicate his complicity in Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. Either way, Graham will likely have to testify in some form or another.