Big news: Meadows ordered to testify

South Carolina’s Supreme Court has unanimously ordered former White House Chief of staff Mark Meadows to testify to an Atlanta-area grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the election in Georgia.

“We have reviewed the arguments raised by [Meadows] and find them to be manifestly without merit,” South Carolina’s Supreme Court justices wrote in a brief opinion.

The decision affirmed a lower court’s ruling requiring Meadows to testify to the Fulton County grand jury investigation led by District Attorney Fani Willis.

[...]

Willis sought Meadows’ testimony in September as part of her expansive investigation into efforts by Trump and his allies to disrupt the election process in Georgia, including his push for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state.

The fight over the Meadows’ subpoena wound up before the South Carolina courts under procedures many states have agreed on to enforce court orders for testimony issued by courts in another state. To compel testimony from out-of-state residents, Willis must first get the approval of local courts. Meadows is a resident of South Carolina.

[...]

Meadows is the most critical figure in her investigation to be ordered to appear. In addition to his prominent role in Trump’s orbit during the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, Meadows traveled to Georgia in the midst of the state’s post-election audit and joined Trump on his Jan. 2, 2021 phone call with Raffensperger.

Meadows had argued to a South Carolina county court that his appearance before the grand jury was barred by executive privilege, but the state courts rejected that argument.

  Politico

"Manifestly without merit" could be the GOP/MAGA motto.

Let's see if Meadows tries to take this to the Supreme Court. It's probably not a good time for MAGA lawsuits at the Supreme Court right now while it's under scrutiny for right-wing corruption.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

They finally got Lindsey

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is appearing Tuesday before a Georgia grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Prosecutors [...] want to question Graham about calls he made to Georgia election officials after the presidential election, as well as his interactions with the Trump campaign, according to court documents.

Graham had fought for months to quash his subpoena. The Supreme Court ultimately declined to block the subpoena for the Republican senator’s grand jury testimony.

  MSN

Sorry, Lindsey, but you're not Donnie, no matter how far up his ass you are.

The courts ruled Graham could not be questioned about fact-finding he embarked on related to his decision to certify the 2020 election results. However, a federal appeals court noted that “coordination with the Trump campaign regarding its post-election efforts in Georgia, public statements regarding the 2020 election, and efforts to ‘cajole’ or ‘exhort’ Georgia election officials” did not constitute legislative activity.

So those calls to Georgia election officials after the election - I expect he's going to say those were in the former category. However, there are Georgia election officials who might give different testimony. Will they have been paid off? Will they be willing to lie on behalf of Lindsey, or Trump? Hopefully not, since they didn't, in the end, bow to the pressure.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Surprise!

Closer and closer

Next stop: SCOTUS.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

If it works for Lindsey...

UPDATE:  They have their court, by god, they're going to use it.

Sad Lindsey - Part 2

A federal judge has for the second time rejected Sen. Lindsey Graham’s effort to block a grand jury subpoena issued by the Atlanta-area district attorney investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies’ effort to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.

In a 23-page order, U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May ruled that the South Carolina Republican’s claim to be immune from such questioning — thanks to the protections of the so-called speech or debate clause of the Constitution — is not as sweeping as Graham claimed it to be.

  Politico

Oh my, what a surprise.

Graham, a close Trump ally, had centered his argument on concerns that District Attorney Fani Willis intends to question him about two phone calls he held with Georgia election officials in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Those calls, Graham contends, were primarily about potential legislative work to remedy election policies and to inform his upcoming vote on Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress met to certify the results of the 2020 election.

[...]

But May noted that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his deputy Gabriel Sterling recalled the discussions with Graham differently, suggesting he had cajoled them to change their procedures in a way that could potentially influence the 2020 results after votes had been cast, not as part of some forward-looking policy mission.

[...]

May, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, agreed that the grand jury should be prohibited from questioning Graham about any parts of his phone calls that relate to crafting legislation, policy or that contributed to his consideration of his Jan. 6, 2021, vote to certify Electoral College results. However, she said those limits do not prohibit questioning about any efforts he made to pressure Georgia officials to change their procedures in the middle of their recounts.

Ooops.

The ruling sends the matter back to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

[...]

Graham’s office sidestepped the judge’s harsh assessment of his arguments, instead focusing on the narrow limits she agreed to apply to the grand jury’s questioning and emphasized his battle to contest the subpoena would continue.

“We are pleased that the district court recognized that Senator Graham’s testimony is protected by the Speech or Debate Clause,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “He will continue to defend the institutional interests of the Senate and the Constitution before the Eleventh Circuit.”

[...]

[AG Willis] indicated to reporters earlier this week that she has interviewed about 60 percent of the witnesses she intends to call and is fighting to secure testimony from a slew of others fighting her subpoenas, such Trump-allied attorney Kenneth Chesebro. Trump attorney John Eastman appeared before the grand jury Wednesday and indicated through his attorneys that he pleaded the Fifth and asserted attorney-client privilege.

And Graham, et al., could simply do the same. Apparently, they are filing frivolously, simply intending to postpone the inevitable.

Willis has said she hopes to finalize the investigation by the end of the calendar year.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 11/1:

Lindsey is out of delay tactics.

Speaking of Graham's legal woes...

We await the court's ruling.

full pleading

UPDATE:  Could be a clue...