Georgia Republican Rep. Jody Hice on Monday asked a federal judge to quash a subpoena demanding his testimony before a state special grand jury that is investigating former President Donald Trump for possible criminal interference in that state’s 2020 election.
The same grand jury in Atlanta previously was known to have subpoenaed other Trump allies, among them Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who likewise has asked a federal judge in his home state to quash that demand.
The subpoena for Hice, which was issued June 29, did not become widely known Monday, when a motion by his attorney seeking to have matters related to the subpoena be heard in federal court first became public.
A judge in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia scheduled a hearing on Hice’s motion to quash for July 25 in Atlanta.
Hice’s lawyer Loree Anne Paradise in a court filing argued that the Fulton County grand jury subpoena violates the U.S. Constitution’s “Speech or Debate Clause,” because it “appears related to Congressman Hice’s inquiries into alleged irregularities in the 2020 election, the Constitution and implementing statute charges Congress with certifying the results of presidential elections.”
“Congressman Hice was acting squarely within his Congressional jurisdiction and his actions may ‘not be questioned’ in any legal proceeding,” Paradise wrote.
The attorney also said under the so-called “high-ranking official doctrine,” the Fulton County district attorney, who is overseeing the presentation of evidence to the grand jury, in order to subpoena Hice must first show that she could not otherwise obtain the information she wants from other sources.
Hice backed Trump in his efforts to overturn Georgia’s election in 2020, which President Joe Biden won. On the heels of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, during which a horde of Trump supporters invaded the halls of Congress, Hice voted against certifying Biden’s victory.
In May, Hice lost a primary race in which he sought to replace Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as their party’s nominee for that office in this fall’s general election.
Raffensperger in January 2021 resisted a direct request from Trump to help him “find” enough votes in Georgia to reverse Biden’s victory in the state.
Hice was subpoenaed by the Fulton County Court grand jury on June 29, according to that notice from Paradise.
It was not clear why Hice waited weeks after the subpoenas was issued to have his lawyer Paradise move to quash it.
CNBC has requested comment from Paradise.
