Attorneys for Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) argued in a Fulton County courtroom on Thursday that the state leader is “beyond the reach” of a subpoena and should not be forced to testify before a grand jury examining potential criminal interference in Georgia’s 2020 elections.
Kemp’s attorneys cited sovereign immunity, executive and attorney-client privilege, and proximity to the November general election as reasons why he should not be forced to testify. The 23-person special purpose grand jury was convened to determine whether former President Donald Trump and his allies broke the law in an effort to overturn the results of Georgia’s presidential election in Trump’s favor.
The governor’s lawyers asked Fulton Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney to delay Kemp’s testimony until after the election, arguing that because the general election is so close, they didn’t have the “time necessary to prepare and then appear” to provide testimony.
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Kemp’s lawyers also accused Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat, of trying to get Kemp to testify for “improper political purposes,” which Willis has strongly denied.
McBurney said he would take all of the arguments under advisement before making a ruling, though he did not indicate a timeline for his decision, CNN reported.
A special grand jury, or special purpose grand jury, is impaneled specifically to investigate any alleged violation of Georgia laws. A regular grand jury is seated for a limited duration, one term of court, which is typically two months in Fulton County. Jurors can hear cases on topics ranging from felony theft to murder. A special grand jury has no set term and focuses on a single topic. It can also subpoena the target of an investigation to appear before it. Once the investigation has ended, a special grand jury will produce a report on its findings but cannot issue an indictment.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr argued that because the grand jury is authorized through May 2023, the “conclusion of the investigation before the November 2022 election is unnecessary.”
“Such an unrealistic and unnecessary timeline is discouraged by prosecutorial ethical standards since the integrity of the 2022 election is not at issue,” he added.
An official subpoena for Kemp was issued after plans for a voluntary interview with Fulton County prosecutors fell apart. Kemp’s legal team wanted to know the scope of the interview and specific questions ahead of time.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office claimed sovereign immunity and executive privilege do not apply to the governor and said in a court filing this week that Kemp is “uniquely knowledgeable” about what took place in 2020 because he was personally involved.
Fulton County Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade said Thursday that the governor should be expected to testify “just as a host of the other 30-plus witnesses” have done. His comments are the first indication of the number of people who have been called in the case so far.
Wade said that Kemp would be treated like any of the other witnesses who have been brought in and that the special prosecutor’s office would share “buckets” of topics with him and his attorneys, CNN reported.
The investigation into Trump and his allies was opened last year following a January 2021 telephone call between then-President Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, during which Trump suggested Georgia election officials “find” the votes needed to overturn President Joe Biden’s win.
Trump also urged Kemp to “get tough” and reject mail-in ballots in a series of post-election tweets.
Raffensperger and other state officials have already appeared before the special grand jury.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), whose telephone calls to Raffensperger and his staff are of interest to prosecutors, was scheduled to testify earlier this week, but a federal appeals court put that testimony on hold while his lawyers fight his subpoena.
Last week, a Texas judge ordered Dallas-based lawyer and podcaster Jacki Pick to travel to Georgia to testify. She, too, tried to fight it but was denied Tuesday by an appeals court. Pick gave a presentation before a state legislative committee in December 2020 in which she presented a surveillance video of alleged fraud by election workers at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
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Less than a day later, Raffensperger’s office debunked her video and said, as it always has, that there was no evidence of election fraud at that site.
Raffensperger was defeated earlier this year in his reelection primary by a Republican candidate who claims the 2020 election was rigged and that Trump was the true victor.
