White House (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham was summoned by a judge to appear before a special grand jury in Georgia looking into former President Donald Trump's alleged efforts to tamper with the results of the 2020 election.
Graham must appear in court on August 2 per an order from Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney. Graham was referred to in the judge's certification that was submitted on Monday as a "necessary and material witness" in the grand jury investigation. WSB-TV first reported the development.An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by Graham's office. Last Monday, the senator's attorneys declared that he would defy the grand jury's subpoena.
Members of Trump's former legal team, including personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, were also subpoenaed by the grand jury.Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, made the request for the special jury in January, in part because of its authority to issue subpoenas, which she claimed was necessary to force witness testimony.
The investigation was started when Trump was heard in a phone call on January 2, 2021, urging Georgia's secretary of state to void the state's election results on the basis of flimsy allegations of voter fraud.
During the phone call, Trump pleaded with fellow Republican and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to overturn his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.
According to the call's transcript, Trump told Raffensperger: "I only want to find 11,780 votes," which is the amount of votes required for him to win Georgia.
In the phone call, Trump has denied doing anything wrong.
Legal authorities have claimed that at least three state election statutes may have been broken by Trump's phone calls: criminal solicitation to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit election fraud, and intentional interference with the conduct of election responsibilities.
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