Judge delays Kemp testimony in Georgia election probe until after midterms

A judge on Monday denied a motion from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) to quash a subpoena requiring him to testify before a special grand jury investigating possible election interference by former President Trump and his allies.

But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert C.I. McBurney moved to delay Kemp’s testimony until after the November midterm elections, when voters will decide whether to give the Georgia governor a second term in office. 

Kemp is facing Democrat Stacey Abrams this fall in a rematch of their 2018 race that saw Abrams only narrowly lose the governor’s mansion. 

Kemp’s attorneys had sought to quash the subpoena altogether, arguing his role as governor gives him immunity from having to testify in the case. McBurney ultimately disagreed with that argument, but acknowledged that Kemp’s reelection bid should be taken into account in scheduling his appearance.

“The Governor is in the midst of re-election campaign and this criminal grand jury investigation should not be used by the District Attorney, the Governor’s opponent, or the Governor himself to influence the outcome of that election,” McBurney wrote in the order.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) initiated the investigation last year, after a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) in which the former president urged the state’s top elections official to “find” the votes needed to reverse his loss to President Biden.

The investigation revolves around whether Trump and his allies sought to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. 

Prosecutors have said they want Kemp to testify about any communications he had with Trump or the former president’s allies in the wake of the 2020 election. 

Kemp isn’t the only high-profile witness to push back against calls to testify in the investigation, which many Republicans have sought to cast as politically motivated. A federal appeals court last week temporarily paused a lower court’s order requiring Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to testify in the case.

Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani testified before the grand jury earlier this month after repeated delays.