GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is attempting a long-shot legal tactic as he seeks to avoid testifying before a special Grand Jury in Georgia investigating efforts by Donald Trump and his supporters to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the Peach State.
Graham was subpoenaed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. He appealed to federal district court, where a judge limited the scope of the subpoena, but said Graham still needed to testify.
Graham then took his case to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, where he lost before two Trump-appointed judges he had voted to confirm. On Friday, Graham took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
For analysis, CNN's Fredricka Whitfield interviewed former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman.
"So in your view, what does this signal to you about Graham's level of concern and where his legal team just might be right now?" Whitfield asked.
"I think it signals he is concerned and he wants to sort of throw a hail Mary pass just to get a delay," Litman replied. "This is not going to succeed."
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"The 11th Circuit, with two Trump appointees, said he has to testify, and they made clear the district court has put into place a lot of protections for the claim he's making, which is somehow this had to do with his legislative activities when he reached out to the secretary of state and said could we find some more votes for a more favorable outcome for Donald Trump," he explained.
"I don't think you'll find five members of the Supreme Court, which is what he needs now, to sort of stop the music," Litman said. "So I think in fairly short order they'll say we are not going to do anything with this, and that's, you know, that's one norm that is yet to be busted in the United States. If and when they say that, that's the end of the line, and he'll have to show up and testify."
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