周四，一家联邦上诉法院驳回了林赛·格雷厄姆阻止佐治亚州富尔顿县大陪审团发出传票的请求调查工作推翻2020年的选举。
这项裁决意味着格雷厄姆必须在陪审团面前作证。
格雷厄姆已经对抗传票因为他整个夏天都在接受服务。
在向第11巡回法院的上诉中，格雷厄姆辩称，他围绕2020年选举的行为受到宪法言论和辩论条款的保护，该条款赋予国会议员在履行职责时的法律保护。
然而，在周四的裁决中，法院发现富尔顿县地方检察官Fani Willis试图询问Graham的具体活动并不违反该条款。
裁决称，这包括关于“特朗普竞选团队在格鲁吉亚选举后的努力、关于2020年选举的公开声明，以及‘哄骗’或‘劝诫’格鲁吉亚选举官员的努力”的问题
“参议员格雷厄姆未能证明这种做法将侵犯他在演讲和辩论条款下的权利，”裁决称。
Sen. Lindsey Graham attends a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, Sept. 29, 2022.
亚历克斯·王/盖蒂图片，文件
下级法院已经略微限制了检察官在格雷厄姆出庭期间可以询问的问题范围。
格雷厄姆的代表没有立即回应ABC新闻的置评请求。
威利斯一直在调查前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)和他的共和党盟友在向佐治亚州官员施压，试图改变有利于特朗普的选举结果时是否违反了法律。引发这次调查的部分原因是特朗普打的电话致佐治亚州国务卿布拉德·拉芬斯佩格，他恳求特朗普“找到11780张选票”，这正好是特朗普赢得佐治亚州所需的票数。
特朗普谴责了这项调查，并一再为他打给Raffensperger的电话辩护，称之为“完美”
特别大陪审团没有能力退回起诉书，只能就刑事起诉提出建议。
Lindsey Graham ordered to appear before Georgia grand jury probing 2020 election
A federal appeals court on Thursday denied Sen. Lindsey Graham's request to block a subpoena from the Fulton County, Georgia, grand juryinvestigating effortsto overturn the 2020 election.
The ruling means Graham must testify before the panel.
Graham has beenfighting the subpoenasince he was served over the summer.
In his appeal to the 11th Circuit Court, Graham had argued that his actions surrounding the 2020 election were protected by the Constitution's Speech and Debate Clause, which grants members of Congress legal protection while performing their duties.
However in its ruling Thursday, the court found that the specific activity that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis seeks to question Graham about would not violate that clause.
That includes questions regarding "communications and 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," the ruling said
"Sen. Graham has failed to demonstrate that this approach will violate his rights under the Speech and Debate Clause," the ruling said.
A lower court had already slightly limited the scope of the questions prosecutors can ask Graham during his appearance.
A representative for Graham did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Willis has been investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies broke the law when they pressured Georgia officials to try to alter the results of the election in Trump's favor. The probe was sparked in part by aphone call Trump madeto Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he pleaded with him to "find 11,780 votes," the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia.
Trump, who has denounced the probe, has repeatedly defended his phone call to Raffensperger, calling it "perfect."
The special grand jury does not have the ability to return an indictment, and can only make recommendations concerning criminal prosecution.
