On Monday, US District Judge Leigh Martin May ruled that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham had to testify in an election case in Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis convened a grand jury as a part of the investigations about attempts by former president Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. Senator Graham had been subpoenaed and was trying to quash it.

According to a July 5 subpoena, the senator made two phone to Brad Raffensperger, the Secretary of State, weeks after the election in Georgia. The Secretary of State had said that he thought that Sen. Graham was requesting him to find a way in which mail-in ballots that were legitimately cast could be thrown out. The senator denied these claims.

The Republican senator from South Carolina said that the calls made by him were “investigatory, information gathering exercises.” They were protected by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause. He also mentioned that his position in the Senate Judiciary Committee allowed him to inquire into the way in which the state had managed the 2020 presidential elections.

Judge May wrote a 22-page decision which said that the senator had misplaced his focus on the phone calls. The judge also noted that the scope of investigation of the grand jury was wider than the calls and there could be questions about “his public statements after the election, as well as conversations or interactions he had with the Trump campaign or other third parties.”

She wrote in detail about the importance of Graham’s potential testimony and his knowledge about topics that went beyond the calls as he allegedly coordinated with the Trump Campaign both before and after the calls.

GOP Senator Lindsey Graham representing South Carolina has said that he will appeal the ruling.

Photo mark reinstein

Georgia will also look into the phone call of Lindsey Graham with Brad Raffensperger in the criminal investigation of Trump’s attempt to overturn the election