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Judge again denies Graham's effort to skirt Georgia subpoena

FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., listens during a hearing on the fiscal year 2023 budget for the FBI in Washington, on May 25, 2022. Attorneys for Graham said in a court filing on July 13, he wasn't trying to interfere in Georgia's 2020 election when he called state officials to ask them to reexamine certain absentee ballots after President Donald Trump's narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden. (Ting Shen/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Ting Shen/AP
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Pool Bloomberg
FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., listens during a hearing on the fiscal year 2023 budget for the FBI in Washington, on May 25, 2022. Attorneys for Graham said in a court filing on July 13, he wasn't trying to interfere in Georgia's 2020 election when he called state officials to ask them to reexamine certain absentee ballots after President Donald Trump's narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden. (Ting Shen/Pool Photo via AP, File)

A federal judge has ruled constitutional protections don’t shield U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham from testifying before a special grand jury investigating possible illegal efforts to overturn then-President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia. U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on Thursday again rejected Graham’s argument that all of his 2020 calls with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger were protected under the U.S. Constitution’s speech or debate clause. But continuing appeals in the case mean the South Carolina Republican’s appearance isn't imminent. The ruling does push Graham one step closer to testifying before the special grand jury.