Graham Shrugs Off Potential Ethics Probe Amid GA Debacle: ‘I’m Just Going To Keep Being Me’

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 13: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC ) attends the second day of Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Capitol Hill on October 13, ... WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 13: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC ) attends the second day of Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Capitol Hill on October 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. Barrett was nominated by President Donald Trump to fill the vacancy left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who passed away in September. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Wednesday claimed he isn’t sweating the possibility of an ethics investigation after Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that the South Carolina Republican has been pressuring him to find ways to toss legally cast ballots.

When asked by CNN in the Capitol on Wednesday whether he’s concerned about facing any ethics investigation, Graham — who has continued egging on President Trump’s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud as he wages legal battles contesting the legitimacy of the election process — replied “no, not at all.”

“I get accused of everything, I’m just going to keep being me,” Graham told CNN. “I called up the secretary of state to find out how you verify a signature and what database you use because I think it’s important that if we’re going to vote by mail, we get it right.”

Graham also told CNN on Wednesday that seeking investigations into states that Trump won is “not in question” so it isn’t an issue for him.

“We’re looking at states where there’s a contest,” Graham told CNN. “I’m not looking at states that he lost. I’m looking at states where there’s a challenge.”

Graham, however, defended his previous remarks that he’s looked into the voting practices of Georgia, Arizona and Nevada in an effort to see if there can be any changes made to verify ballots sent by mail, according to CNN.

On Monday, Raffensperger — a Republican who has publicly debunked President Trump and his allies’ bogus claims of widespread voter fraud in the election — told the Washington Post that Graham asked if political bias was behind election workers accepting ballots with mismatched signatures. Additionally, Raffensperger claimed that Graham inquired whether entire batches of legal ballots could be tossed from counties with high levels of signature mismatch.

In response to Raffensperger’s interview with the Post recalling Graham’s inquiries — which the Georgia secretary of state said he was “stunned” by — Graham told reporters on Capitol Hill later Monday that he was “surprised” to hear how Raffensperger characterized the conversation. Graham also called Raffensperger’s claim that he was attempting to get ballots tossed “ridiculous.”

“I was trying to find out how the signature stuff worked,” Graham said on Monday. “It was good, he did a good job explaining to me how to verify signatures.”

Following Graham’s remarks on Monday to reporters, Lin Wood, a pro-Trump Atlanta lawyer, filed a lawsuit challenging how signatures are checked, which Raffensperger vowed to challenge because the move could potentially reveal how people voted.

Latest News
122
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. It seems almost as if Lindsay’s not even trying to be convincing.

  2. Is he going to keep on being the same Lindsey Graham who said “If we nominate Trump, it will destroy the Republican Party, and we’ll deserve it,” and “If you don’t like Joe Biden, there’s something wrong with you?” Or a different Lindsey Graham?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

116 more replies

Participants

Avatar for ghost Avatar for daveminnj Avatar for sooner Avatar for mondfledermaus Avatar for eldonlazar Avatar for christianhankel Avatar for drriddle Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for danny Avatar for 26degreesrising Avatar for nobodyforpresident Avatar for ifeveroheverawiztherewas Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for tena Avatar for jinnj Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for docd Avatar for ericr Avatar for Anarchy_Bunker Avatar for hahagoodman Avatar for the_loan_arranger Avatar for haddockbranzini Avatar for n_b Avatar for emiliano4

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: