ATL Standard

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is seeking to have the U.S. Supreme Court intervene to keep him from having to appear before a local, special grand jury probing whether then-President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in the state.

Graham’s office described the senator’s filing as an attempt "to defend the Constitution and the institutional interest of the Senate," a FOX 5 Atlanta report said. The office noted that the lower court’s ruling "would significantly impact the ability of senators to gather information in connection with doing their job."

In submitting his filing before the court, attorneys for Graham—a close associate of Trump—sought to put a stop to a push for his testimony while he continues to appeal the order to appear before the Fulton County special grand jury, the FOX 5 report said. 

Now serving his fourth term, Graham was first issued a subpoena in July by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who opened her investigation shortly after a recording of a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger—in which the then-president suggested that Raffensperger "find" the votes he needed to help overtake Democratic candidate Joe Biden—was made public. 

Willis hopes to probe Graham about two additional phone calls he had made to Raffensperger and his staff in the weeks after the election asking them about examining certain absentee ballots cast in the state in order to “explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump,” the report said.