Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina filed a movement Wednesday in federal court docket in an effort to keep away from testifying in Georgia about former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the state's 2020 election outcomes.
Earlier this month, Fulton County District Legal professional Fani Willis subpoenaed Graham and several other different Trump allies looking for to compel them to testify earlier than a particular grand jury this summer season. The others subpoenaed included former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and marketing campaign attorneys Cleta Mitchell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis.
Prosecutors alleged in Graham's subpoena that he spoke to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after the 2020 election and questioned him "about reexamining sure absentee ballots forged in Georgia to be able to discover the potential of a extra favorable consequence" for Trump.
President Joe Biden received Georgia by just below 12,000 votes, or 0.5%. Graham has acknowledged the cellphone calls previously and dismissed any allegations of wrongdoing, telling "Face the Nation" in January that he "requested about how the system labored when it got here to mail-in voting, balloting."
Graham's attorneys argued of their movement that his conversations with Raffensperger fall inside the "legislative sphere," as a result of his calls associated to his duties as then-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"Senator Graham has been involved about election safety and guaranteeing that absentee voting procedures are safe lengthy earlier than the 2020 election," Graham's attorneys wrote.
The attorneys contended that Graham "didn't inject himself into Georgia's electoral course of, and by no means tried to change the result of any election."
"The dialog was about absentee ballots and Georgia's procedures," Graham's attorneys wrote.
The subpoena calls for that Graham be obtainable for testimony from Aug. 2 via Aug. 31. His attorneys argued he can't be obtainable for that size of time, as a result of it might nterfere together with his position within the Senate. They saidn his position as a senator provides him "sovereign immunity" from testifying.
Willis' workplace has not but responded to a request for remark.
Trump known as Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, asking him to "discover" 11,780 votes, or sufficient to make him the winner of the state. "The individuals of Georgia are indignant, the individuals within the nation are indignant," Mr. Trump could be heard saying on the audio recording of the decision, which was obtained by CBS Information. "And there is nothing improper with saying that, you recognize, um, that you have recalculated."
Raffensperger testified earlier than the Home Jan. 6 committee on June 21, 2022. The White Home, together with Trump chief of employees Mark Meadows, known as and texted Raffensperger's workplace 18 occasions to arrange a name, Raffensperger stated.
Raffensperger stated Trump additionally known as the state's chief investigator for the secretary of state who was supervising the election audit, and advised her that "when the suitable reply comes out you will be praised." That decision, just like the one with Raffensperger, was set by Meadows.
Graham Kates contributed reporting for this story.