A judge in Georgia on Aug. 29 rejected Gov. Brian Kemp’s motion to dismiss a subpoena for him to testify before the special purpose grand jury in the probe of the 2020 election.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney denied the motion, which invoked sovereign immunity and claimed that the county court didn’t have jurisdiction to issue or enforce the subpoena.
“The Court finds that it does enjoy jurisdiction and that the subpoena should not be quashed,” the judge wrote in the ruling.
However, McBurney delayed the governor’s appearance before the grand jury to a date “soon after the 8 November 2022 general election,” in which Kemp will face Democrat Stacey Abrams.
He postponed the date because Kemp is in the midst of a campaign for reelection and to avoid the case from being used to influence the election results, the judge wrote.
McBurney also declined to quash a subpoena for lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, who represented the Trump campaign. He’s scheduled to appear before the special grand jury on Aug. 30, according to a court filing.
“Judge McBurney acknowledged the potential political impact of the timing of these proceedings and correctly paused the Governor’s involvement until after the November election,” Kemp’s office said in a statement after the ruling. “Just as we have since April 2021, we will work with the DA’s office and the judge to ensure a full accounting of the Governor’s limited role in the issues being investigated is available to the special grand jury.”
More Trump Allies Subpoenaed
Prosecutors have said they want to ask Kemp about Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s call with then-President Donald Trump, as well as his own contacts with Trump and others in the wake of the 2020 general election.Willis opened the investigation early last year, prompted by a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Raffensperger during which Trump reportedly suggested the state’s top election official could “find” the votes needed to overturn his loss. But the investigation’s scope has widened considerably since then.
Raffensperger and some other state officials have appeared before the special grand jury.
Willis also has been pursuing testimony from close Trump allies and advisers.
Former New York Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, who’s been told he faces possible criminal charges in the investigation, testified earlier this month. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is currently fighting a subpoena in federal court.
Willis last week filed paperwork seeking to compel testimony from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Trump-allied attorney Sidney Powell, among others.
Lin Wood, a pro-Trump attorney, confirmed on Aug. 26 that he was subpoenaed by the Fulton County special grand jury.
“The devil is after me today!!!” he wrote in social media post late on Aug. 26. “The Fulton County DA attacks me as you can see from the email below to my attorney, Ibrahim Reyes, by demanding that I testify before the ‘Trump Witch Hunt’ grand jury!!!”
