A federal judge Thursday nixed the request from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. to evade state grand-jury testimony in the lawsuit alleging improper election conduct against former President Donald Trump, in the weeks after the 2020 election in Georgia.
However, the judge also placed limits on what the plaintiffs can ask Graham during the judicial proceedings.
Specifically, Graham won't be obliged to answer questions involving his "investigatory fact-finding on telephone calls to Georgia election officials," according to U.S. District Court Judge Leigh May.
The ruling covers the phone calls Graham made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff shortly after the 2020 election, which featured the presidential battle of then-President Trump and current President Joe Biden.
According to Judge May, the Raffensperger-affiliated questions will be considered off-limits for Graham, because it's "related to [the] decision to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election."
"The Court finds that this area of inquiry falls under the protection of the Speech or Debate Clause, which prohibits questions on legislative activity," ruled Judge May.
Regarding the subpoena from the office of Fani Willis, Fulton County district attorney, Judge May says Graham can be asked questions within that sphere of influence.
"As to the other categories, the Court finds that they are not legislative, and the Speech or Debate Clause does not apply to them," May wrote.
The judge continued: "As such, Senator Graham may be questioned about any alleged efforts to encourage Secretary Raffensperger or others to throw out ballots or otherwise alter Georgia's election practices and procedures.
"Likewise, the grand jury may inquire into Senator Graham's alleged communications and coordination with the Trump Campaign and its post-election efforts in Georgia, as well as into Senator Graham's public statements related to Georgia's 2020 elections," wrote May.
As Newsmax chronicled earlier this week, Willis' investigation launched early last year, shortly after a recording of a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and SOS Raffensperger became public.
In one excerpt of that call, which may not contain the full context of the discussion, Trump allegedly sought an investigation into election fraud, saying his legal team only needed to "find" enough fraudulent votes that would tilt the Georgia presidential race in Trump's favor.
On Wednesday, lawyers for John Eastman, a legal adviser to Trump, advised their client to assert attorney-client privilege and "invoke his constitutional right to remain silent" when testifying before a special grand jury.
Eastman appeared before the Fulton County panel and subsequently complied with a summons from the district attorney, Charles Burnham and Harvey Silverglate confirmed in a statement.
"In his appearance before the Fulton County special grand jury, we advised our client John Eastman to assert attorney client privilege and the constitutional right to remain silent where appropriate," attorneys Burnham and Silverglate's statement read, NBC News reported.
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