Video & Multimedia
Related: About this forumCourt Blocks Graham From Having To Testify In Georgia 2020 Election Probe - MSNBC Reports
A court ruled to temporarily block Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina from having to testify in front of a special grand jury in Georgia investigating attempts by former President Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election in that state. NBC News' Ryan Reilly breaks down Graham's argument against having to testify and how long he could avoid it. - Aired on 08/21/2022.
Heather MC
(8,084 posts)WinstonSmith4740
(3,059 posts)I hate these people.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)elleng
(131,196 posts)Bad headline.
'A federal appeals court temporarily blocked Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, on Sunday from testifying in the investigation into efforts by President Donald J. Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. The appeals court instructed a lower court to determine whether Mr. Graham should be exempt from answering certain kinds of questions, given his status as a federal lawmaker.
The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit gives a temporary reprieve to Mr. Graham, who has been fighting prosecutors efforts to bring him before a special grand jury. After a protracted bout of legal sparring, Mr. Graham, at the end of last week, appeared to have failed in his efforts to remain above the matter and had been expected to testify behind closed doors on Tuesday in a downtown Atlanta courthouse.
Mr. Graham has argued, among other things, that he should be exempt from testifying under the U.S. Constitutions speech and debate clause, which prohibits asking lawmakers about their legitimate legislative functions. The appeals court laid out further steps on Sunday that must be taken before Mr. Graham gives any testimony.
First, the court ruled, a Federal District Court must determine whether Mr. Graham is entitled to a partial quashal or modification of the subpoena to appear before the special purpose grand jury based on the speech and debate clause issue. After that, the appeals court said, it will take up the issue for further consideration. . .
This month, Mr. Graham called the effort to make him testify ridiculous and a weaponization of the law.
We will go as far as we need to go and do whatever needs to be done to make sure that people like me can do their jobs without fear of some county prosecutor coming after you, he said.
The speech and debate clause appears in Article 1, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution, and states that members of Congress shall not be questioned in any other place for any speech or debate in either house. The framers of the Constitution wrote it with the idea of protecting the independence of the legislative branch from other branches, and were influenced by the evolution of an independent parliament in England.'
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/21/us/graham-trump-testimony-georgia.html
Rhiannon12866
(206,262 posts)Response to Rhiannon12866 (Original post)
Baked Potato This message was self-deleted by its author.
elleng
(131,196 posts)his Georgia behavior had NOTHING WHATEVER TO DO with his role as a senator. (I think I'm characterizing her position correctly.)
'U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May ruled earlier this week that Graham's position as a senator does not shield him from the special grand jury in Fulton County and ordered him to appear as a witness before the special grand jury on Aug. 23.
May wrote, "The Supreme Court has recognized that there are any number of activities a member of Congress might engage in that unquestionably fall outside the scope of protected legislative activity because they are, in fact, 'political in nature rather than legislative.'"'
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lindsey-graham-georgia-grand-jury-investigating-trump-appeal-denied/
Onama Biden Man
(26 posts)Is anyone really surprised though? Most of the court is made up of Trump appointees. We all know that they believe that it is their job to protect republicans. Makes me sick. Lindsey Graham is a criminal and needs to be brought to justice.
Rhiannon12866
(206,262 posts)And welcome to DU!
Onama Biden Man
(26 posts)Its good to be here with like minded friends!
Rhiannon12866
(206,262 posts)BlueIdaho
(13,582 posts)Another for ordinary Americans. Anyone surprised?