As he fights to squash a subpoena from a Georgia grand jury investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is set to have a federal court hearing in about his involvement in a possible interference in Georgia’s electoral process by Trump and his allies.
That hearing is scheduled for July 20 in Greenville, according to Associated Press reporter Meg Kinnard.
According to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Graham placed at least two phone calls to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the weeks following the 2020 election seeking reexamination of absentee ballots to “explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump.”
In court documents filed last week, Graham said he wasn’t seeking to interfere in the election when he asked Georgia officials to reexamine certain ballots on Trump’s behalf.
Graham’s attorneys have said the South Carolina Republican “is not a subject nor target of the investigation, simply a witness,” arguing that the senator did not inject himself into Georgia’s electoral process and never tried to alter the outcome of the election.
“Sen. Graham was well within his rights to discuss with state officials the processes and procedures around administering elections,” his attorneys said in a statement.
Judge U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Cain, who was assigned to consider Graham’s filing, ruled last week that the subpoena can’t be executed for the time being.
As noted by Kinnard, Judge Cain and Graham are former law partners, who practiced together for several years.
UPDATE: The case was reassigned Wednesday to U.S. District Judge Henry Herlong Jr., who ruled that the subpoena can't be executed for the time being.
A hearing in the matter has been set for July 20 in Greenville, South Carolina.
— Meg Kinnard (@MegKinnardAP) July 13, 2022
