Dems: Graham's Call to Georgia Official May Be a Crime

Brad Raffensperger says senator seemed to suggest he should toss legal ballots
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 17, 2020 7:21 AM CST
Graham on Claim He Sought to Dump Legal Ballots in Ga.: 'Ridiculous'
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, listens during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 10.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)

As Georgia's hand recount continues, Brad Raffensperger, its secretary of state, has been pushing back on President Trump's claims of voting fraud, as well as saying he's been pressured by fellow Republicans to dump enough ballots to overturn the election that's been called for President-elect Biden. Raffensperger specifically called out Georgia Rep. Doug Collins and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, saying that Collins is a "charlatan" and a "liar" for his fraud allegations, and claiming that, in a Friday call, Graham asked if Raffensperger "had the power to toss all mail ballots in counties found to have higher rates of nonmatching signatures," per the Washington Post. "It was just an implication of, 'Look hard and see how many ballots you could throw out,'" Raffensperger told CNN on Monday night, adding that, barring a court order, he doesn't have that power, per the Post.

Graham is calling Raffensperger's claim that he pressured him on the ballots "ridiculous," telling reporters Monday night he'd just wanted to understand Georgia's signature-verification process, and that he thought he and Raffensperger had had a "good conversation" in which he "learned a lot." "If he feels threatened by that conversation, he's got a problem," Graham said. Per WSB-TV, the senator was also asked why a South Carolina senator was calling Georgia's secretary of state, and he answered, "Because it affects the whole nation. I'm very interested." Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are bashing the report on Graham, per the Post. "Senator Graham pressuring the Ga. SoS to throw out legally cast ballots is morally reprehensible, and possibly a federal crime," New York Rep. Kathleen Rice tweeted. "If true, he should resign from the Senate immediately." (There were some ballots found in Georgia that help Trump—but not by much.)

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