FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) 鈥 Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich must comply with a subpoena seeking his testimony in front of a special grand jury in Georgia investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence that state鈥檚 2020 election results, a Virginia judge ruled Wednesday.
Gingrich, who lives in northern Virginia, had argued that the federal law that normally requires states to honor out-of-state grand jury summonses should not apply in this case because the special grand jury lacks the power to indict. He also argued that the subpoena would be unnecessarily duplicative and burdensome because he has already agreed to testify in front of a congressional select committee investigating on the Capitol and that his testimony in both matters would essentially be the same.
But Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Robert Smith sided with prosecutors who said the subpoena should be enforced. The judge said the law doesn鈥檛 parse out a difference between regular grand juries and special grand juries, as Gingrich鈥檚 lawyer argued.
鈥淚 think I have to read the statute as written,鈥 the judge said.
Gingrich鈥檚 lawyer, John Burlingame, said he expects to appeal the ruling. If the appeal fails, Gingrich will be required to testify to the special grand jury on Nov. 29.
Gingrich declined comment after the hearing.
Gingrich, a Republican, is one of several high-profile Trump allies who have unsuccessfully tried to avoid testifying.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened the investigation early last year, shortly after a recording of was made public. In that call, Trump urged Raffersperger, the state's top elections official and a fellow Republican, to 鈥渇ind鈥 the votes needed to overturn his narrow loss in the state to Democrat Joe Biden.
The scope of the investigation has broadened considerably since then, and Willis, a Democrat, has sought the testimony of dozens of witnesses, including numerous Trump attorneys, advisers and associates since the special grand jury was seated in May. It is among several cases that have the former president in potential legal jeopardy as he .
Because Gingrich lives outside Georgia, Willis had to use where he lives to order him to appear.
Willis in court in Atlanta last month, and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who's overseeing the special grand jury, certified that Gingrich is a 鈥渘ecessary and material witness for the investigation.鈥 In her petition seeking Gingrich's testimony as a witness, Willis said she relied on information made public by that's investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
The petition says Gingrich was involved along with others associated with the Trump campaign in a plan to run television ads that 鈥渞epeated and relied upon false claims about fraud in the 2020 election鈥 and encouraged members of the public to contact state officials to push them to challenge and overturn the election results based on those false claims.
Gingrich was also involved in a plan to have Republican fake electors sign certificates falsely stating that Trump had won the state and that they were the state鈥檚 official electors even though Biden had won, the petition says.
At Wednesday's hearing, Burlingame said the information sought by the Georgia special grand jury overlaps entirely with the congressional investigation, so there's no need to require Gingrich to testify twice, since the Georgia prosecutor can obtain the transcript of Gingrich's upcoming testimony to the congressional committee.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e very thorough,鈥 Burlingame said of the congressional investigators. 鈥淚t almost sounds like the Fulton County district attorney is concerned that the professional attorneys for the select committee aren鈥檛 going to be doing a capable job. Your Honor, I assure you they will.鈥
Fairfax County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Kyle Mandelbaum acknowledged there may be overlap in the two investigations but said it would be wrong to assume they have identical interests.
鈥淭he grand jury in Fulton County is specifically looking at the question of whether or not Georgia law was violated which is not necessarily the focus of the January 6 committee鈥檚 investigation,鈥 Mandelbaum said.
The subpoena provides him immunity for his testimony and covers his lodging and transportation costs, Mandelbaum said.
in Georgia are generally used to investigate complex cases with many witnesses. They can compel evidence and subpoena testimony from witnesses, but they cannot issue indictments. Once its investigation is complete, a special grand jury can recommend action, but it remains up to the district attorney to decide whether to then seek an indictment from a regular grand jury.
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Associated Press writer Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed.
