ATLANTA — U.S. Rep. Jody Hice on Monday became the second member of Congress to challenge a subpoena issued by the Fulton County special grand jury examining Georgia’s 2020 elections.
But unlike U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who plans to cite the Constitution’s “Speech or Debate” clause before a federal judge on Wednesday in an attempt to quash his subpoena, Hice is opting for a different legal strategy.
A lawyer for Hice filed a motion in Fulton County Superior Court on Monday seeking to remove the matter to federal court.
“Since Congressman Hice is a member of the United States House of Representatives and is being asked to testify pursuant to a state-issued subpoena, the federal officer removal statute should apply, and this action should therefore be removed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia,” the motion argues.
The document notes that Hice was subpoenaed by the special grand jury on June 29 and that his testimony is being requested for July 19.
Hice’s lawyer and congressional office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Greensboro Republican has served as a member of the U.S. House since 2015. Hice ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for secretary of state this spring against incumbent Brad Raffensperger. Armed with the endorsement of Donald Trump, he promoted many of the same falsehoods of widespread election fraud championed by the former president.
In late 2020, Hice joined a Texas legal challenge seeking to invalidate Georgia’s election results at the Supreme Court. He introduced an objection to Georgia’s election results as Congress tallied Electoral College votes hours after the Jan. 6 insurrection and caught flak for publishing — and later deleting — a social media post calling that day’s protests “our 1776 moment.” (His aides said the post was not an endorsement of the deadly attack.)
A longtime member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, Hice maintained close relationships with several members of Trump’s inner circle, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Congressman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
He attended a Dec. 21, 2020, White House strategy meeting with Meadows, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and other GOP lawmakers in which attendees pressured Vice President Mike Pence, who was also there, to overturn the 2020 election results, according to the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
The federal officer removal statute states that any federal official can transfer a criminal action brought against them in state court to federal court, if the prosecution is “for or relating to any act under the color of such office.”
Hice’s motion did not specify why the congressman might have been subpoenaed. He serves on the House Oversight and Government Reform and Natural Resources committees.
It’s unclear whether any current or former members of Georgia’s congressional delegation have been subpoenaed by the special grand jury. But Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis recently informed multiple GOP state legislators, as well as state Republican Party Chairman David Shafer, that they’re targets of her investigation.
Hice is retiring from the House at the end of the year.
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