FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Lawyers for Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday that the South Carolina Republican would challenge his subpoena to appear before the Fulton County special grand jury examining former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Sen. Graham, along with Rudy Giuliani and several members of the Trump 2020 legal team, have been ordered by a Fulton County judge to appear before the special grand jury.
Graham's lawyers said the senator intends to fight that order.
"Senator Graham plans to go to court, challenge the subpoena and expects to prevail," it said.
The statement also said Graham is not the subject or target of the investigation, but "simply a witness."
The order for Graham relates to December 2020 phone calls to Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger in which the South Carolina senator, according to the order, "questioned Secretary Raffensperger and his staff about reexamining certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome" for Trump.
The statement said he was "well within his rights" as the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman at the time of the 2020 election, to "discuss with state officials the processes and procedures around administering elections."
"Should it stand, the subpoena... would erode the constitutional balance of power and the ability of a Member of Congress to do their job," the statement, from Graham's attorneys Bart Daniel and Matt Austin, added.
The statement additionally criticized Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation as a "fishing expedition" and "all politics."
The court order asserts Graham made at least two calls to Raffensperger after the election. One was reported in Nov. 2020 in The Washington Post, in which the senator allegedly asked Raffensperger whether he "had the power to toss all mail ballots" in certain counties if their signature match rates were worse.
The Post characterized it as Graham appearing to "suggest that (Raffensperger) find a way to toss legally cast ballots," a characterization that the secretary said "sure looked like he was wanting to go down that road."
Graham at the time called that interpretation "ridiculous."
Graham's full statement
In my conversations with Fulton County investigators, I have been informed Senator Graham is neither a subject nor target of the investigation, simply a witness.
This is all politics. Fulton County is engaged in a fishing expedition and working in concert with the January 6 Committee in Washington. Any information from an interview or deposition with Senator Graham would immediately be shared with the January 6 Committee.
As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Graham was well within his rights to discuss with state officials the processes and procedures around administering elections. Should it stand, the subpoena issued today would erode the constitutional balance of power and the ability of a Member of Congress to do their job. Senator Graham plans to go to court, challenge the subpoena, and expects to prevail.
See the Lindsey Graham order: