Lindsey Graham insists he wasn’t trying to interfere with election result when he called Georgia officials after Trump defeat

Fulton County DA wants US senator from South Carolina to appear before grand jury

Senator Lindsey Graham did not try to interfere with the election results in Georgia after Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat to Joe Biden, his lawyers stated in a new federal court filing.

The filing is part of the South Carolina Republican’s attempt to quash a subpoena ordering him to testify before a grand jury in Georgia probing the actions of Mr Trump and his allies.

Mr Graham called state officials and asked them to reexamine some absentee ballots after Mr Biden narrowly won the state on his way to the White House.

“Senator Graham has never inserted himself into the electoral process in Georgia, and has never attempted to alter the outcome of any election,” Mr Graham’s attorneys stated in court papers filed in South Carolina.

“The talk was about absentee ballots and Georgia’s procedures.”

Mr Graham was named, along with other Trump allies and lawyers, in petitions filed last week by Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis.

Her office is investigating what she says was “a multi-state, coordinated plan by the Trump campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere”.

In the subpoena, Ms Willis states that Mr Graham made at least two phone calls to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger and his staff following Mr Trump’s defeat.

She alleges that Mr Graham asked them about reexamining certain absentee ballots “to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump.”

The district attorney has also filed subpoenas for Rudy Giuliani and Trump lawyers Kenneth Chesebro, Cleta Mitchell, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, and Jacki Pick Deason.

In the court papers, Mr Graham’s lawyers argue that the politician has “sovereign immunity” from state court procedures as “the testimony sought relates to matters within the legislative sphere.”

A South Carolina judge will now rule on whether Mr Graham should have to go to Atlanta to take part in the grand jury and if he is a “material and necessary witness.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.