Supreme Court Declines To Punch Lindsey Graham's Get Out Of Testimony Free Ticket

Spill it, Lindsey! Love, Clarence.

Yesterday the Supreme Court lifted its administrative stay, paving the way for South Carolina GOP Senator Lindsey Graham to testify to the Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury investigating the effort to steal the state's 16 electoral votes from President Joe Biden.

The stay was imposed last week by Justice Clarence Thomas, who presides over the Eleventh Circuit, to give the wider court time to consider Graham's request for time to argue that the laws of this country do not apply to him as a sitting senator. (This is something to keep in mind as Chief Justice John Roberts stays the DC Circuit's order for Trump to produce his tax returns for the House Ways and Means Committee — you really cannot read anything into the imposition of a temporary stay.)

Senator Graham, who received a certificate of material witness along with Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and John Eastman, has fought for months to avoid testifying to the Fulton County special purpose grand jury about his efforts to help Donald Trump steal Georgia. Of particular interest to prosecutors are two calls Graham made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his deputy Gabriel Sterling, both of whom have implied that the senator pressured them to magically disappear Democratic ballots. These calls were reportedly the impetus for someone to record that call Trump made demanding that Raffensperger "find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have" and vaguely threatening him with criminal prosecution if he didn't do it.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis also seeks to ask Graham about his coordination with the Trump campaign and his public statements implying that there was electoral fraud in the state. Graham argued that all of this was part of his very serious senator duties — he was simply making sure Georgia's vote was on the up-and-up before the January 6 vote to certify the election — and thus he had complete legislative immunity under the Speech or Debate clause of the Constitution. But every court that examined the issue, including an Eleventh Circuit panel that included two Trump appointees, disagreed.

After the appeals court ordered the trial judge to consider Graham's Speech or Debate claims, US District Judge Leigh Martin May invited the senator get specific about which parts of the subpoena should be quashed and why. But Graham declined to do that , instead restating his claims that the subpoena should be quashed in full. If Graham was betting the Eleventh Circuit would do him a solid and embrace his sweeping vision of legislative immunity, he's an even worse gambler than he is a human being — and that guy is an inveterate piece of shit. The appellate panel endorsed Judge May's interpretation of the Speech of Debate Clause's limits, agreeing that, while anything "investigatory" is off limits, urging Raffensperger to take action, public speeches, and coordination with the Trump campaign is fair game.

Which is more or less what the Supreme Court said in response to Graham's Hail Mary pass:

The lower courts assumed that the informal investigative fact-finding that Senator Graham assertedly engaged in constitutes legislative activity protected by the Speech or Debate Clause, U. S. Const. Art. I, §6, cl. 1, and they held that Senator Graham may not be questioned about such activities. The lower courts also made clear that Senator Graham may return to the District Court should disputes arise regarding the application of the Speech or Debate Clause immunity to specific questions. Accordingly, a stay or injunction is not necessary to safeguard the Senator’s Speech or Debate Clause immunity.

"Today, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause applies here," Graham's office crowed , as if he'd won a great victory. He also telegraphed his legal strategy going forward:

They also affirmed that Senator Graham 'may return to the District Court' if the District Attorney tries to ask questions about his constitutionally protected activities. The Senator's legal team intends to engage with the District Attorney's office on next steps to ensure respect for this constitutional immunity.

Let's take a wildass guess that by "next steps" he doesn't mean "show up as scheduled on November 17 and quit fucking around already." We're reading that one as "waste as much time as possible objecting to each and every question, throwing one of the senator's signature public tantrums during each session."

In summary and in conclusion, UGHHH, WHAT A POMPOUS WANKER.

[ Graham v. Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury , Supreme Court Docket]

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