Lindsey Graham believes that he can call up a Secretary of State from another state, not his own, nor the federal secretary of state, and chat up throwing election ballots away based on a close examination of signatures, all as a means of looking for a way for Trump to win and then use the speech and debate clause as a shield against the crime.

Now, shortly after Graham lost in the 11th Circuit, Lindsey is filing an appeal to… Justice Thomas, who covers emergency motions from the 11th Circuit, as we’ve seen, asking that the court hear his emergency appeal because he must testify. From The Hill:

In court papers filed Friday to Justice Clarence Thomas, who handles emergency matters arising from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, Graham urged the court to find that constitutional protections for lawmakers should prevent him from being forced to comply with a subpoena issued by District Attorney Fani Willis (D).

“Without a stay, Senator Lindsey Graham will soon be questioned by a local Georgia prosecutor and her ad hoc investigative body about his protected ‘Speech or Debate’ related to the 2020 election,” Graham’s lawyers wrote. “This will occur despite the Constitution’s command that Senators ‘shall not be questioned’ about ‘any Speech or Debate.’”

Far be it from me to interject, but in law school, we were taught that the speech and debate clause protected legislators who were, you know – speaking and debating each other, in the Capitol, over a bill, and not on the phone trying to toss an election. The 11th Circuit agreed with our little summation.

Graham is among several high-profile figures whom Willis has pursued as part of her probe. She has also subpoenaed a group of Republicans who served as a phony slate of pro-Trump electors in 2020.

Willis has been stronger than many of us can imagine being. Good luck to her. She will need it.

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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, with Nicole Hickman