A Florida judge ordered former national security adviser Michael Flynn to give testimony to the Fulton County special grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
Flynn had sought to quash a subpoena levied against him by the panel, but the judge on Tuesday rejected his legal team’s reasoning, concluding that Flynn was a “material and necessary witness,” before ordering him to appear before the panel on Nov. 22.
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“I am going to make a finding that the witness is indeed material and necessary in the special grand jury proceeding in the state of Georgia,” said Judge Charles Roberts of the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Florida.
Roberts also rejected a request from Flynn to pause the order so he can appeal.
Lawyers for Flynn argued that he could not be compelled to make the trek from his residency in Sarasota County, Florida, to Georgia because the special grand jury lacks the power to levy criminal indictments, but Roberts rejected that argument.
BREAKING: Florida judge orders Michael Flynn to testify before the Fulton County, Georgia grand jury investigating 2020 election interference in the state.
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) November 15, 2022
“Sister states grant comity to one another’s laws, with the assurance that there are reciprocal protections for their citizens,” a Flynn lawyer wrote in a filing Monday, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “In the case of Georgia’s [special purpose grand jury], there is no reciprocity, and there should be no comity.”
One of his attorneys also suggested that Fulton County prosecutors leaned on “innuendo, speculation, and hearsay” during arguments Tuesday, hoping to counter claims that he was a material witness for the investigation.
Flynn had been summoned for testimony last month. The summons cited an interview with Newsmax in which he suggested former President Donald Trump could tap the military to swing the election, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“He could order within the swing states if he wanted to — he could take military capabilities and basically rerun an election each in those states,” Flynn said at the time.
Prosecutors also highlighted reports that Flynn attended a White House meeting with lawyer Sidney Powell the day after that interview. She has also faced demands to testify before the panel.
The victory for Fulton County prosecutors comes the same day Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, reportedly testified before the panel for about three hours.
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened the investigation last year following surfaced audio of a call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger featuring the former pushing the latter about the need to “find” 11,780 votes in Georgia in order to overturn his election loss.
In May, the special grand jury was impaneled to assist with the inquiry — it has the power to help dole out subpoenas and recommend charges, but it cannot indict on its own. Willis can pursue a separate, regular grand jury to file criminal charges.
