Comment ATLANTA — After months of unsuccessful legal challenges, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R.C.) appeared Tuesday before a special grand jury investigating efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Trump’s defeat in Georgia’s 2020 election, the latest high-profile witness in an investigation believed to be nearing its end. A sheriff said Graham walked into court around 8 a.m A spokesman for Graham did not respond to a request for comment about the grand jury proceeding, which is legally secret. A spokesman for the Fulton County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Graham’s testimony follows an extensive legal challenge to block his appearance went all the way to the US Supreme Court, which this month refused to overturn lower court rulings requiring him to appear. The South Carolina Republican and Trump confidant was first subpoenaed in July by the Fulton County District Attorney’s office, which sought to question Graham about calls he made to Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, in the weeks after the 2020 elections and more. issues related to elections. Trump personally urged Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn his loss in the state, which Biden won by less than 12,000 votes. Trump has insisted that the election there was marred by fraud, though multiple legal investigations have found no evidence of it. Raffensperger later told the Washington Post that he felt pressure from other Republicans, including Graham, who he said echoed Trump’s allegations of voting irregularities in the state. He claimed that Graham, in a phone call, appeared to be asking him to find a way to set aside legal ballots. Graham and his lawyers have strongly rejected that characterization, describing the senator’s interactions with Raffensperger as “investigative calls” intended to inform his decision-making on whether to vote to certify the election for Biden and to inform other business of the Senate. In court filings, Graham argued that his actions were legitimate legislative activities protected by the Constitution’s “speech or debate clause” and that he should not be required to answer grand jury questions. In September, U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May ruled that Fulton County prosecutors could not question Graham about parts of his calls that were legislatively investigative. But May cleared the way for prosecutors to question Graham about his coordination with the Trump campaign on post-election efforts in Georgia. The judge also said Graham could also be questioned about his public statements about the 2020 election and “any alleged efforts to ‘disclose’ or encourage Georgia election officials to ‘throw away ballots or otherwise alter the electoral practices and procedures of Georgia”. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit later upheld that lower court ruling. The Supreme Court rejected Graham’s final appeal this month, clearing the way for his appearance this week. Graham’s attorneys said they told him he is a witness, not a target, in the Fulton County investigation. Graham’s testimony came as the grand jury appears to be nearing the end of its work. Jurors have heard testimony from several Trump lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Boris Epstein. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (D), who also tried unsuccessfully to quash a subpoena in the case, appeared before the committee last week. Prosecutor Fani T. Willis also called for testimony from other high-profile Trump advisers, including Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows. former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. All three continue to pursue legal efforts to quash their subpoenas — ongoing appeals that could delay the proceedings. The 23-person grand jury is authorized to sit until May 2023. But Willis said earlier this year that she hoped the panel would have completed its work by the end of this year. The commission does not have the power to issue charges, but would make its recommendations in a report to Willis, who would then weigh possible charges. During a hearing in Florida last week where Flynn contested his subpoena, Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Will Wooten told a judge there were “very few” witnesses left. “Chances are this grand jury is not going to hear much more testimony,” Wooten said, according to CNN. Bailey reported from New Orleans and Brown from Atlanta. Ann E. Marimow and Tom Hamburger contributed to this report.
