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ATLANTA, Ga. (WJBF) – After being subpoenaed to testify before a special grand jury investigating the 2022 general election in Georgia, Congressman Jody Hice motioned to quash the subpoena. His motion to quash was denied by Federal Court.
Congressman Hice was served with a subpoena Wednesday, June 29th, to appear before the Special Grand Jury, July 19th, part of an investigation into “the facts and circumstances relating directly or indirectly to the possible attempts to disrupt the lawful administration of the 2020 elections in the State of Georgia,” according to documents filed by U.S. Rep. Hice and his lawyer Loree Anne Paradise in the case.
Since U.S. Rep. Hice is a federal officer and the Court presiding over the Special Grand Jury is in State Court, Hice’s legal team is argued the case should be moved to Federal Court, based on precedent in similar cases, and Congressman Hice should be afforded “the protection of a federal forum,” according to the Notice of Removal filed by his lawyers in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
After consideration, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia entered the following order to the Clerk of the Superior Court of Fulton County:
The Court construes Congressman Hice’s Motion to Quash as seeking to quash the Special Purpose Grand Jury subpoena in its entirety. See Dkt. No. [2]. Congressman Hice’s Motion to Quash [2] is DENIED without prejudice. The parties now agree that there are certain questions that Congressman Hice may be required to answer. The Court also finds that both the Speech or Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the “high-ranking official” doctrine may operate to prevent the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office from obtaining answers to certain questions from Congressman Hice before the Special Purpose Grand Jury. Because the parties agree that the record should be more fully developed before the Court can address the applicability of these potential immunities to specific questions, the Case is REMANDED to the Superior Court of Fulton
County for further proceedings.Leigh Martin May
United States District Judge
Congressman Hice’s Council responded to the preliminary court order saying,
“We successfully removed this matter to federal court and filed the motion to quash to put the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office on notice that the U.S. Constitution prevents them from asking Members of Congress certain questions as part of their “fishing expedition,” and Judge May acknowledged boundaries in her ruling,” said Chris Gober, Counsel to Congressman Hice. “This was the acknowledgment we were seeking, and we’re now prepared to go back to Judge May in the future if the District Attorney’s Office tries to color outside the lines.”
