Supreme Court says Lindsey Graham must testify in Georgia election probe

The Supreme Court dismissed Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) request to not testify in the investigation into the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, reports NBC News.

The move came after an investigation into a pair of post-election phone calls between Graham and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which he questioned Raffensperger's power to reject certain absentee ballots.

Graham avoided answering questions in the probe by submitting an emergency request to the court arguing that "he should not have to abide by the subpoena" due to his current role as a senator.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

In the unsigned order, says CNN, the justices agreed that Graham could not be asked to talk specifically about issues related to his legislative role. However, he can still be questioned more generally about election interference in Georgia.

"Accordingly," the Supreme Court said, "a stay or injunction is not necessary to safeguard the Senator's speech or debate clause immunity."

The South Carolina senator will now have to appear for testimony and could face questioning as soon as November 17.