A judge has ruled that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp must testify in the Fulton County probe into the 2020 election — but has agreed to Kemp’s request to delay the testimony until after his November re-election bid.
Driving the news: In a Monday order, Judge Robert McBurney said delaying Kemp’s testimony was the “sound and prudent course” so that the investigation “not be used by the District Attorney, the Governor’s opponent, or the Governor himself to influence the outcome of that election.”
Catch up quick: Kemp’s attorneys had accused the district attorney’s office of political motivations and sought to quash Kemp’s subpoena before a special grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
- “Unfortunately, what began as an investigation into election interference has itself devolved into its own mechanism of election interference,” they wrote.
The other side: In an email released in the filing, District Attorney Fani Willis fired back: “This is NOT a politically motivated investigation.”
The big picture: The back and forth between Kemp and the district attorney’s office is the latest example of how the wide-reaching investigation into efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results has grown politicized.
- A judge already barred District Attorney Fani Willis from directly investigating one of the named targets because she had fundraised for his political opponent.
What he’s saying: McBurney said that “both sides share responsibility for the torture and the tortuousness” of the weeks of negotiations that broke down over how Kemp would offer testimony.
Flashback: Kemp famously resisted former President Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Others who have been subpoenaed to appear before the special grand jury are also fighting to avoid giving testimony, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) who is in federal appeals court over the summons. Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows recently received a subpoena.
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