Last week Senator Lindsey Graham was compelled to testify in front of a special grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia (Atlanta). He vowed to fight doing so. The special grand jury is investigating possible criminal interference in Georgia’s 2020 elections. Also compelled to testify were Rudy Giuliani and others in Trump’s inner circle or on his legal team, including John Eastman and Jenna Ellis.

On July 5 Fulton County Superior Judge Robert McBurney signed off on seven certificates of material witnesses. They were not described as subpoenas, though.

“This is not a subpoena saying, ‘You are the target of the investigation.’ That if you say the wrong thing, then you’ll be indicted,” Cohen said. “What it does say is, ‘We want to find out what it is that you have to say and you better testify under oath, truthfully.’”

The documents were filed July 5 and each of the people outlined are asked to appear in front of the grand jury on July 12.

In the latest step in the process to get Graham down to Georgia to testify before the special grand jury, Judge McBurney ruled Monday that Graham “is a necessary and material witness” in the investigation. The new order says that the grand jury needs to hear from Graham about his two alleged phone calls to Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger. The new order calls for Graham to testify in August.

The new order said the grand jury wants to find out more about two phone calls allegedly made by Graham to Raffensperger asking him to begin “reexamining certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump.”

Graham is fighting the subpoena and last week accused Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of playing politics and working with the Jan. 6 committee.

“My inquiry and the Jan. 6 inquiry are not one and the same,” Willis said in an exclusive interview last week.

Willis said she hoped Graham would change his mind and come testify willingly.

“It is my hope that Sen. Graham will have a moment of quiet reflection and decide to bring truthful testimony before this grand jury that wants to hear from him on some very important issues,” Willis said.

None of this is settled, though. This all still has to work its way through courts in Washington, D.C.

At the time the certificates were issued last week, D.A. Willis said that they were part of her investigation into what she described as “a multi-state, coordinated plan by the Trump Campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.” Trump’s legal team made allegations that election results in several states should be overturned but they were never able to prove their case in court.

Graham’s attorneys call the investigation politically motivated.

Graham attorneys Bart Daniel and Matt Austin, last Wednesday, slammed the probe as politically motivated. They argued complying to the subpoena “would erode the constitutional balance of power and the ability of a Member of Congress to do their job.”

They also said they had been informed by Fulton County investigators that Graham “is neither a subject nor target of the investigation.” Willis’ office has not confirmed their assertion.

Compelling witnesses from out-of-state to testify involves submitting petitions for a judge’s approval. The judge overseeing the special grand jury signed off on her petitions