Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wants Sen. Lindsey Graham’s testimony about calls made to Georgia officials after President Donald Trump’s defeat.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request from Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) to spare him from testifying before a Georgia grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the election defeat of former president Donald Trump.
There were no noted dissents to the court’s short order.
Graham had claimed that his actions — he called Georgia election officials as Trump contested his 2020 loss to Joe Biden — were legitimate legislative activity protected by the Constitution’s “speech or debate clause” and that he should not be required to answer questions from a grand jury.
But Tuesday’s unsigned order said lower courts already had protected him from questioning that related to his official duties.
“The lower courts assumed that the informal investigative fact-finding that Senator Graham assertedly engaged in constitutes legislative activity protected by the Speech or Debate Clause … and they held that Senator Graham may not be questioned about such activities,” the order said.
“The lower courts also made clear that Senator Graham may return to the District Court should disputes arise regarding the application of the Speech or Debate Clause immunity to specific questions. Accordingly, a stay or injunction is not necessary to safeguard the Senator’s Speech or Debate Clause immunity.”
The action dissolved a temporary stay that had been granted by Justice Clarence Thomas while the full court considered the issue.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, which is conducting the investigation, declined to comment on the decision.
Graham’s office issued a statement describing Tuesday’s ruling as confirming “that the constitution’s Speech or Debate clause applies here.
