Justice Thomas Temporarily Shields Lindsey Graham From Testimony

(Bloomberg) -- US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily shielded Senator Lindsey Graham from having to testify before a Georgia grand jury investigating whether Donald Trump and his supporters illegally tried to undo the former president’s election loss.

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Thomas on Monday issued an interim order that will protect Graham until the court decides whether to grant the South Carolina Republican’s bid for a longer-term shield. Thomas gave no explanation.

Graham turned to the Supreme Court last week after the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals refused to insulate him from a grand jury subpoena. Thomas is assigned to handle emergency matters from the 11th Circuit.

Graham says he is protected by the Constitution’s speech-or-debate clause, which limits probes into federal lawmakers’ official work.

Thomas issued the administrative stay -- a step the Supreme Court often takes to buy itself time -- even though Graham isn’t scheduled to testify until Nov. 17, according to a subpoena attached to his high court filing.

Thomas previously asked Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the prosecutor conducting the investigation, to respond to Graham’s request by Thursday. The latest action blocks the subpoena “pending further order of the undersigned or of the court.”

Ginni Thomas

Thomas has drawn criticism for not recusing himself from cases involving Trump’s push to overturn the election results. The justice’s wife, conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, played a role in that effort and answered questions from the congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The 11th Circuit decision was issued without any published dissent by a three-judge panel that included two Trump appointees. Under the decision, which left a federal trial judge’s order in force, Graham must appear before the grand jury but can still try to refuse to answer particular questions.

US District Judge Leigh Martin May said Graham could be asked about allegations that he encouraged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to discard votes and about any coordination with the Trump campaign in its efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s narrow victory in the state.

Graham says the speech-or-debate clause covers informal investigations by members of Congress. But May said it wasn’t clear whether his calls with Georgia election officials were investigative and therefore entitled to constitutional protection.

The Supreme Court case is Graham v. Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury, 22A337.

--With assistance from Zoe Tillman.

(Updates with excerpt from order in sixth paragraph.)

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