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A federal judge on Thursday ruled that constitutional protections don’t shield U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham from testifying before a special grand jury investigating possible illegal efforts to overturn then-President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May rejected Graham’s argument that all his calls with Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, were protected under the U.S. Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which shields members of Congress from questioning about official legislative acts.
She did, however, agree with lawyers for the South Carolina Republican that legislative protection applies to parts of the calls specifically pertinent to “Georgia’s then-existing election procedures and allegations of voter fraud in the leadup to his certification vote” — portions she noted were “legislative fact-finding.”
Despite the decision, continuing appeals in the case mean the senator’s appearance is not imminent. The ruling does push Graham — one of Trump’s top congressional allies and a key figure in the former president’s postelection activities — one step closer to testifying before the special grand jury empaneled this year by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
