Former US President Donald Trump’s allies were handed a shock on Monday when a federal judge said Senator Lindsay Graham must testify before a grand jury in Atlanta. The grand jury is currently investigating whether Trump, the former US President and his allies broke laws when they tried to overturn the 2020 general election loss in Georgia.

Graham’s attorneys argued that his designation as a US Senator gives him immunity from making an appearance before an investigative committee and requested the judge cancel the subpoena. However, District Judge Leigh Martin May, in turn, wrote that immunities that come with the role do not protect Graham from testifying, in an order.

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The subpoena has instructed the US Senator to make an appearance before the special grand jury on Tuesday, August 23. However, according to the Senator’s office, Graham is set to appeal against the subpoena to the US Circuit Court of Appeals.

Prosecutors related to the investigation have hinted that they plan to enquire about alleged phone calls Graham made to Brad Raffensperger, the Secretary of State in Georgia, and his staff following Trump’s loss against Joe Biden in the 2020 general elections.

Judge Leigh Martin May also quashed Graham’s argument regarding sovereign immunity protecting a senator from being subpoenaed by a state prosecutor.

The judge rejected a similar attempt to avoid testifying by US Rep. Jody Hice in July. Donald Trump’s attorney and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani also put up an argument stating health problems which would restrict him from travelling to Atlanta for testifying, which was rejected by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney.

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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who began the investigation in 2021 and whose request led to the formation of the special grand jury with subpoena power in 2022, confirmed the scope of an investigation into a phone call between Donald Trump and Raffensperger on January 2 last year.

During the phone call, Trump allegedly told Raffensperger to “find” votes to overturn his loss in Georgia. “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump said on the phone call.

However, the former US President has denied wrongdoing regarding the call and described it as “perfect”.