Graham Loses Bid To Delay Deposition In Trump Ga Grand Jury Probe

Sarah Silbiger | Reuters A federal judge on Friday denied a request by Sen. Lindsey Graham, RSC., to delay his scheduled testimony before a special judicial committee in Fulton County, Georgia, in an investigation into possible interference in the state’s 2020 election by former President Donald Trump. and his allies. The ruling came four days after Judge Leigh Martin May rejected Graham’s bid to quash a court-ordered subpoena to testify as a witness in the inquiry in its entirety. Graham is scheduled to testify before a grand jury next Tuesday. The senator had asked the judge to temporarily halt enforcement of the subpoena pending his appeal of Monday’s ruling seeking to quash the subpoena entirely and not testify. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit took up Graham’s appeal on Thursday. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the investigation, wants to question Graham about phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff after the November 2020 election. Raffensperger reportedly said that era that Graham had questioned him about Georgia election laws, including whether the clerk had the authority to throw out certain mail-in ballots. Trump, who falsely blames widespread fraud for his loss to President Joe Biden, called Raffensperger days before Congress convened to certify the election results and urged him to “find” enough votes to swing the contest. of Georgia. Lawyers for Graham, a close Trump ally, had argued to May that the calls were “essentially a legislative finding of fact” by a sitting US senator and therefore protected by the Constitution’s speech and debate clause. May wrote in Monday’s ruling that even if that clause protected Graham from testifying about the calls to Raffensperger, he could be questioned about other matters related to the investigation. In Friday’s ruling, May reiterated that some of Graham’s arguments were “not at all convincing”. “Senator Graham’s arguments ignore the idea that more than one issue may have been discussed in the subpoenas,” he wrote, and “the Court finds no basis to conclude that his positions on those issues are likely to reverse on essence”. May also rejected the argument that these other possible fields of inquiry would simply be used as a “backdoor” way to ask him about the phone calls. “The problem for Senator Graham is that the record completely contradicts” that proposal, May wrote. “Senator Graham’s persistent repetition of this argument does not make it true.” The judge also agreed with Willis’ argument that delaying Graham’s testimony would harm the grand jury investigation, as well as the public interest. “The public interest is well served when a legitimate investigation to uncover the facts and circumstances of alleged attempts to disrupt or influence the election in Georgia is allowed to proceed without undue encumbrance,” May wrote. “Indeed, it is important that citizens believe that mechanisms are in place to investigate any such attempts to disrupt elections and, if necessary, to prosecute these crimes which, by their very nature, strike at the heart of a democratic system.” she wrote

title: “Graham Loses Bid To Delay Deposition In Trump Ga Grand Jury Probe Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-11” author: “James Rathbun”

Sarah Silbiger | Reuters A federal judge on Friday denied a request by Sen. Lindsey Graham, RSC., to delay his scheduled testimony before a special judicial committee in Fulton County, Georgia, in an investigation into possible interference in the state’s 2020 election by former President Donald Trump. and his allies. The ruling came four days after Judge Leigh Martin May rejected Graham’s bid to quash a court-ordered subpoena to testify as a witness in the inquiry in its entirety. Graham is scheduled to testify before a grand jury next Tuesday. The senator had asked the judge to temporarily halt enforcement of the subpoena pending his appeal of Monday’s ruling seeking to quash the subpoena entirely and not testify. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit took up Graham’s appeal on Thursday. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the investigation, wants to question Graham about phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff after the November 2020 election. Raffensperger reportedly said that era that Graham had questioned him about Georgia election laws, including whether the clerk had the authority to throw out certain mail-in ballots. Trump, who falsely blames widespread fraud for his loss to President Joe Biden, called Raffensperger days before Congress convened to certify the election results and urged him to “find” enough votes to swing the contest. of Georgia. Lawyers for Graham, a close Trump ally, had argued to May that the calls were “essentially a legislative finding of fact” by a sitting US senator and therefore protected by the Constitution’s speech and debate clause. May wrote in Monday’s ruling that even if that clause protected Graham from testifying about the calls to Raffensperger, he could be questioned about other matters related to the investigation. In Friday’s ruling, May reiterated that some of Graham’s arguments were “not at all convincing”. “Senator Graham’s arguments ignore the idea that more than one issue may have been discussed in the subpoenas,” he wrote, and “the Court finds no basis to conclude that his positions on those issues are likely to reverse on essence”. May also rejected the argument that these other possible fields of inquiry would simply be used as a “backdoor” way to ask him about the phone calls. “The problem for Senator Graham is that the record completely contradicts” that proposal, May wrote. “Senator Graham’s persistent repetition of this argument does not make it true.” The judge also agreed with Willis’ argument that delaying Graham’s testimony would harm the grand jury investigation, as well as the public interest. “The public interest is well served when a legitimate investigation to uncover the facts and circumstances of alleged attempts to disrupt or influence the election in Georgia is allowed to proceed without undue encumbrance,” May wrote. “Indeed, it is important that citizens believe that mechanisms are in place to investigate any such attempts to disrupt elections and, if necessary, to prosecute these crimes which, by their very nature, strike at the heart of a democratic system.” she wrote

title: “Graham Loses Bid To Delay Deposition In Trump Ga Grand Jury Probe Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-26” author: “Betty Holmes”

Sarah Silbiger | Reuters A federal judge on Friday denied a request by Sen. Lindsey Graham, RSC., to delay his scheduled testimony before a special judicial committee in Fulton County, Georgia, in an investigation into possible interference in the state’s 2020 election by former President Donald Trump. and his allies. The ruling came four days after Judge Leigh Martin May rejected Graham’s bid to quash a court-ordered subpoena to testify as a witness in the inquiry in its entirety. Graham is scheduled to testify before a grand jury next Tuesday. The senator had asked the judge to temporarily halt enforcement of the subpoena pending his appeal of Monday’s ruling seeking to quash the subpoena entirely and not testify. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit took up Graham’s appeal on Thursday. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the investigation, wants to question Graham about phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff after the November 2020 election. Raffensperger reportedly said that era that Graham had questioned him about Georgia election laws, including whether the clerk had the authority to throw out certain mail-in ballots. Trump, who falsely blames widespread fraud for his loss to President Joe Biden, called Raffensperger days before Congress convened to certify the election results and urged him to “find” enough votes to swing the contest. of Georgia. Lawyers for Graham, a close Trump ally, had argued to May that the calls were “essentially a legislative finding of fact” by a sitting US senator and therefore protected by the Constitution’s speech and debate clause. May wrote in Monday’s ruling that even if that clause protected Graham from testifying about the calls to Raffensperger, he could be questioned about other matters related to the investigation. In Friday’s ruling, May reiterated that some of Graham’s arguments were “not at all convincing”. “Senator Graham’s arguments ignore the idea that more than one issue may have been discussed in the subpoenas,” he wrote, and “the Court finds no basis to conclude that his positions on those issues are likely to reverse on essence”. May also rejected the argument that these other possible fields of inquiry would simply be used as a “backdoor” way to ask him about the phone calls. “The problem for Senator Graham is that the record completely contradicts” that proposal, May wrote. “Senator Graham’s persistent repetition of this argument does not make it true.” The judge also agreed with Willis’ argument that delaying Graham’s testimony would harm the grand jury investigation, as well as the public interest. “The public interest is well served when a legitimate investigation to uncover the facts and circumstances of alleged attempts to disrupt or influence the election in Georgia is allowed to proceed without undue encumbrance,” May wrote. “Indeed, it is important that citizens believe that mechanisms are in place to investigate any such attempts to disrupt elections and, if necessary, to prosecute these crimes which, by their very nature, strike at the heart of a democratic system.” she wrote

title: “Graham Loses Bid To Delay Deposition In Trump Ga Grand Jury Probe Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-30” author: “Piper Germano”

Sarah Silbiger | Reuters A federal judge on Friday denied a request by Sen. Lindsey Graham, RSC., to delay his scheduled testimony before a special judicial committee in Fulton County, Georgia, in an investigation into possible interference in the state’s 2020 election by former President Donald Trump. and his allies. The ruling came four days after Judge Leigh Martin May rejected Graham’s bid to quash a court-ordered subpoena to testify as a witness in the inquiry in its entirety. Graham is scheduled to testify before a grand jury next Tuesday. The senator had asked the judge to temporarily halt enforcement of the subpoena pending his appeal of Monday’s ruling seeking to quash the subpoena entirely and not testify. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit took up Graham’s appeal on Thursday. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the investigation, wants to question Graham about phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff after the November 2020 election. Raffensperger reportedly said that era that Graham had questioned him about Georgia election laws, including whether the clerk had the authority to throw out certain mail-in ballots. Trump, who falsely blames widespread fraud for his loss to President Joe Biden, called Raffensperger days before Congress convened to certify the election results and urged him to “find” enough votes to swing the contest. of Georgia. Lawyers for Graham, a close Trump ally, had argued to May that the calls were “essentially a legislative finding of fact” by a sitting US senator and therefore protected by the Constitution’s speech and debate clause. May wrote in Monday’s ruling that even if that clause protected Graham from testifying about the calls to Raffensperger, he could be questioned about other matters related to the investigation. In Friday’s ruling, May reiterated that some of Graham’s arguments were “not at all convincing”. “Senator Graham’s arguments ignore the idea that more than one issue may have been discussed in the subpoenas,” he wrote, and “the Court finds no basis to conclude that his positions on those issues are likely to reverse on essence”. May also rejected the argument that these other possible fields of inquiry would simply be used as a “backdoor” way to ask him about the phone calls. “The problem for Senator Graham is that the record completely contradicts” that proposal, May wrote. “Senator Graham’s persistent repetition of this argument does not make it true.” The judge also agreed with Willis’ argument that delaying Graham’s testimony would harm the grand jury investigation, as well as the public interest. “The public interest is well served when a legitimate investigation to uncover the facts and circumstances of alleged attempts to disrupt or influence the election in Georgia is allowed to proceed without undue encumbrance,” May wrote. “Indeed, it is important that citizens believe that mechanisms are in place to investigate any such attempts to disrupt elections and, if necessary, to prosecute these crimes which, by their very nature, strike at the heart of a democratic system.” she wrote