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1 1 (November 7, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejia0001 and id is 1 raw text is: \Congressional ______ R .fesearch Service Speech or Debate Clause Protections for Informal Member Oversight and Investigations November 7, 2022 The Supreme Court recently cleared the way for a state grand jury to question Senator Lindsey Graham about his role in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, including with respect to aspects of alleged phone calls the Senator placed to Georgia election officials. The dispute over Senator Graham's testimony-which in large part focuses on the protections the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause (the Clause) affords to investigative or oversight communications between Members of Congress and other government officials-is unlikely to be over soon. While Senator Graham may now need to appear before the grand jury, the Supreme Court made clear that he may return to the District Court should disputes arise regarding the application of the Speech or Debate Clause immunity to specific questions. Senator Graham, therefore, may be able to raise Speech or Debate objections in response to questions that the Senator feels relate to protected legislative acts. The pair of district court opinions in In re subpoena to Non-party Lindsey O. Graham reflect the difficulty of determining what types of Member communications are protected by the Speech or Debate Clause and the constitutional sensitivities of courts investigating the content of Member communications to determine their protected status. The case is not the first of its kind. It takes place within a legal context in which courts have disagreed about how to treat an individual Member's own informal investigative or oversight activities. How this uncertainty is ultimately resolved-in this case or future cases-could either inhibit informal, Member-driven investigations and oversight by subjecting them to examination from outside of Congress, or facilitate such activities by shielding them from outside inquiry as part of the legislative function performed by all Members. Background In January 2022, a special purpose grand jury was empaneled in Fulton County, Georgia, to investigate possible attempts to disrupt the lawful administration of the 2020 elections in the state of Georgia. As part of the ensuing investigation, the District Attorney caused the grand jury to issue a subpoena to Senator Graham seeking his testimony as a witness. Senator Graham moved to quash the subpoena, arguing, among other things, that he could not be compelled to testify before the grand jury because his Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10857 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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