Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp may have rebuffed former President Donald Trump’s attempts to illegally call for a special session of the state legislature to reverse Joe Biden’s win in 2021. But that doesn’t mean he can slip out of testifying in the criminal investigation by the state’s district attorney.
Kemp’s attorneys are trying everything to save the incumbent governor from giving a sworn statement. According to reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), Wednesday, Kemp’s attorneys filed a motion to quash a subpoena demanding that their client testify before the Fulton County special grand jury in the criminal case on interference in Georgia’s 2020 elections.
Although Kemp is a key witness in District Attorney Fani Willis’ case, his attorney, Brian F. McEvoy, confirmed that a sworn video testimony the governor was scheduled to make was ultimately canceled. McEvoy accused the DA’s office of playing political games as another subpoena was filed, the AJC reports.
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“Unfortunately, what began as an investigation into election interference has itself devolved into its own mechanism of election interference. This is particularly egregious when directed toward the State’s highest executive, who is not accused of any wrongdoing and is occupied with the business of governing,” McEvoy wrote in the filing.
Kemp, who was scheduled to testify Thursday, joins the ranks of Sen. Lindsey Graham and Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who both attempted to skirt the DA’s demand to testify and were both shut down by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney. Kemp’s testimony has been temporarily excused as McBurney listens to the challenge.
Kemp is running neck-and-neck against Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams, and his attorneys are attempting to push the incumbent’s testimony to late 2022 or early 2023, AJC reports.
“We are now just weeks away from the 2022 general election making it increasingly difficult to dedicate the time necessary to prepare and then appear,” the filing reads.
In an email included in the filing, Willis argues:
“We have been working with you in good faith for months. You have been rude and even disparaging to my staff. You have been less than honest about conversations that have taken place. … The email you have sent is offensive and beneath an officer of the court. You are both wrong and confused.”
The bottom line is that Kemp is worried about his testimony in the 85 days left before the midterms, and his attorneys will do and say anything to keep this issue out of the minds of voters.
Kemp’s office indeed gave the DA’s office 137,000 pages of evidence—after a subpoena for documents—but what Kemp hasn’t provided to jurors is records of the numerous phone calls and interactions between himself and Trump.
The filing to quash argues that “Georgia courts have no authority to compel sitting Governor to provide testimony about matters involving his official duties due to sovereign immunity.” And that “It is the settled law of Georgia that, in the performance of his official duties, the Governor- is “the State,” and therefore beyond the jurisdiction of the Court absent an express waiver.”
But, try as they may, neither McBurney nor U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May have, to date, quashed any subpoenas, AJC reports.
Willis is fighting against an all-out war with Republicans in the state. She’s a known Democrat, so it’s easy to allege that she’s got an alternative agenda beyond an investigation into criminal tampering with an election.
Lawyers for the 16 GOP “alternate” electors for Trump were recently notified that they’re also targets in Willis’ investigation, and they’ve all accused her office of playing political games.
None of the accusations against her have stopped Willis from keeping her eye on the target.
