Lindsey Graham’s In Trouble

Donald Trump wasn’t the only one who tried to get Georgia election officials to find votes for Trump. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham did, too. That’s why Georgia authorities have been trying to get the gamecock to testify about it.

Graham has resisted, arguing that he should be exempt from testifying because of the Constitution’s speech or debate clause protections, sovereign immunity and his position as a high-ranking government official. Today, however, Federal District Judge Leigh Martin May rejected Graham’s crackers arguments, finding that Georgia has shown “extraordinary circumstances and a special need for Senator Graham’s testimony on issues relating to alleged attempts to influence or disrupt the lawful administration of Georgia’s 2020 elections.” So now Graham must either testify or appeal.

Although Graham’s arguments for avoiding testifying are weak, he has already decided to appeal to the court of appeals and presumably all the way to the Supreme Court, if he loses again. That’s because if Graham testified and told the truth, he would almost certainly be indicted for unlawful election interference. On the other hand, if Graham appeared and took the 5th Amendment, which he would surely do, his career would be in a shambles and he probably still would be indicted.

I mentioned that Graham has already decided to appeal. But that doesn’t block the order requiring him to testify. Graham must convince either Judge May or the court of appeals that the order should be stayed pending his appeal. To do that, however, ordinarily requires convincing the court of his likelihood of winning on appeal. That could be a tall order given the weakness of his arguments.

So Graham’s between a rock and a hard place. Whether he can shimmy out of that spot remains to be seen.