The US Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Republican Senator Lindsay Graham’s request to block the Georgia grand jury’s order directing him to testify before a special jury in Atlanta.

Graham was asked to testify for investigations regarding the ploy to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia in which former president Donald Trump was defeated.

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Graham, who is a Senator from South Carolina, filed an emergency request in the US Supreme Court requesting the justices to halt his testimony in Atlanta. He had earlier appealed for the same at the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, but it was rejected.

He is scheduled to appear before the jury in Atlanta on November 17. CNN reported that there were no public dissents for the order.

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Although Graham cannot avoid appearing before the jury, he was granted permission to object to certain questions if he feels so. It means that the scope of the judicial investigation will be limited.

“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,” the Supreme Court said in the one page-order, adding, “and they held that Senator Graham may not be asked about such activities.”.

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Graham’s lawyer said that the jury interpreted Graham’s inquiry concerning absentee ballots as an invitation to disregard legitimately cast ballots. Graham has also contended that the call was protected because he was making inquiries to help him decide whether to vote to certify the 2020 election and future legislation. Graham has criticised such view as “crazy.”