Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily prevents Sen. Lindsey Graham from testifying in Georgia election probe

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily blocked an order that would have forced Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Ga.).from immediately testifying in the Georgia state probe into former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election.

Thomas’ order on Monday is intended to prevent Fani Willis, Fulton County district attorney, from compelling Graham to testify while the Supreme Court weighs the senator’s request for a lengthier halt to the proceedings.

Willis has a Thursday deadline to tell the high court why Graham should have to answer the grand jury’s questions. Lower courts have ruled that his testimony can take place.

The full Supreme Court will now decide whether Graham must answer prosecutors’ questions under oath about Trump’s push to bully state election officials into “finding” enough votes to flip President Biden’s narrow win in the Peach State.

Graham, a supporter of Trump, claims that the Constitution’s “speech and debate” clause means he should get a pass from testifying in the probe.

The senator says the calls were part of his own fact-finding exercise to decide whether to vote to certify Biden’s victory in Georgia.

Two lower courts rejected that claim, noting that prosecutors have an overriding need to investigate and punish wrongdoing.

Thomas ruled because he handles all emergency appeals from the 11th Circuit, which includes Georgia. The decision means only that the conservative jurist believes the appeal raises important legal issues, not that he necessarily plans to rule in Graham’s favor.

Graham reportedly called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after the November 2020 election to ask if he could use technicalities to throw out ballots from Democratic-leaning areas.

The call mirrored Trump’s demand in early January that Raffensperger should “find” just enough votes to allow him to claim victory over Biden. Raffensperger taped the Trump call, giving solid evidence to Willis.

When Trump’s effort failed, he urged his loyal supporters to “fight like hell” to keep him in power during a fiery speech on Jan. 6, 2021. The crowd of violent extremists stormed the Capitol in a failed effort to physically block Congress from certifying Biden’s win.