Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is seeking to fight a recent subpoena to testify in a Georgia special grand jury investigation, arguing in a new filing that he never attempted to persuade Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn the state’s election results.
Graham’s testimony was supposed to relate to phone calls made to the Georgia Secretary of State during the weeks after the 2020 presidential election, according to the subpoena.
“Senator Graham did not inject himself into Georgia’s electoral process, and never tried to alter the outcome of any election,” reads the motion, as reported by Fox News. “The conversation was about absentee ballots and Georgia’s procedures.”
The filing took place on Tuesday in South Carolina, Graham’s home state.
Graham also claimed the federal judge’s subpoena cannot stand, as his conversations with Raffensperger and other state officials fell within the parameters of his official conduct as a US legislator.
“Senator Graham’s contact with Georgia officials referenced in the Certificate falls within the ‘legislative sphere’ because it was to gather information relevant to his oversight responsibilities as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and given his obligations under the Electoral Count Act of 1887,” the filing states.
Attorneys for the South Carolina senator argue the subpoena is “gross overreach” and “an abuse of power.”
Graham told Fox News he was simply trying to do his “day job.”
“If we open up county prosecutors being able to call every member of the Senate based on some investigation they think is good for the country, we're opening Pandora’s Box,” he told the outlet.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who announced the subpoena against Graham earlier this month, has also sought testimony from former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Raffensperger has already testified before the grand jury. Graham has been asked to deliver his testimony on August 2.