The Brief: Trump Says Graham’s Final Conversation With Him Was About the SAVE Act

Voter Suppression Looms Large in Push to Replace the Senator

We heard a lot in the day after Lindsey Graham died at 71 about the way in which the senator played a key roll for the White House, explaining how the Senate worked to Trump. Given the president’s recent, monomaniacal focus on passing the SAVE America Act, the voter suppression legislation was, apparently, a key component of that relationship.

“He literally called me about the SAVE America Act,” Trump told Meet the Press, describing his last call with Graham, which came hours before his death. “Think of it: He’s traveling for many, many hours — thats a long flight, that’s a long trip. And he calls me about SAVE America Act.” Graham had returned from Ukraine Saturday.

“He thought we were going to get it passed,” Trump continued. “This is a big blow to the SAVE America Act, let me tell you.”

The president made similar remarks on other television programs Sunday morning.

The law would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote or change the name on one’s voter registration, and that voters present ID each time they cast a ballot. Many Americans do not have access to these documents. The legislation would require 60 votes to pass through normal procedure in the Senate, but is opposed by Democrats, making that virtually impossible.

Trump has pressured Senate Republican leadership to find a workaround, urging them to scrap the filibuster, which would allow the bill pass the chamber with only 51 votes. (Republicans, with Graham, had a 53-vote majority.) Senators balked at that. Some have suggested instead doing something they’d call the “SAVE America Act” through budget reconciliation, which also only requires 51 votes — but is limited to legislation that has to do with the budget. The SAVE America Act would have to be changed beyond recognition to qualify, displeasing Trump.

It seems these kind of details were the nuances Graham attempted to translate for Trump. Graham chaired the budget committee, which would have played a key role in an attempt to pass SAVE through reconciliation

Trump indicated Sunday he intends to play a role in picking the temporary replacement to fill Graham’s seat — a selection formally made by South Carolina governor Henry McMaster (R) — and it’s hard to imagine support for the SAVE America Act won’t be a factor for winning his endorsement.

Trump’s New Assault on Press Freedom

In a dramatic escalation of its attacks on press freedom, the Trump administration subpoenaed several New York Times reporters over coverage of the new, Qatari-donated Air Force One.

• The subpoenas came after Kash Patel spent Friday at the White House, running the investigation from there, the Times reported.
• They were signed by Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney in New York who is Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence.
• “The Trump administration, with its impulsive subpoenas, used vague pretenses of a threat to national security to try to compel our reporters to appear before a grand jury,” Times executive editor Joe Kahn wrote in a memo to staff, obtained by Status. “The law protects news gatherers from this sort of retaliatory abuse of prosecutorial power.”

Tabs

• Tina Peters 2.0? The New York Times takes a long look at a bizarre fight in Maricopa County between the Board of Supervisors and the county recorder, whose actions are stoking the fires of election denialism.
• Speaking of Tina Peters, she has been on a media tour since having her sentence commuted and, later, meeting with President Trump in person, where, she said, she urged the president to ban the use of voting machines and mail-in ballots. Media Matters has a rundown of her activities.

Man of the Hour

It’s Kash Patel, who, desperate as ever to toot his horn on social media, declared via tweet that, following Graham’s death, “the FBI is assisting local authorities and has made every necessary resource available.” That, of course, didn’t make sense unless there was foul play — which there wasn’t reason to suspect. The post stoked conspiracy theories, which were, inevitably, already percolating. Graham likely died of aortic dissection, a tear in the body’s main artery, a medical examiner’s report found.

Are We at War?

Absolutely