We need an investigation into Lindsey Graham's intervention in Georgia

[Zorro]

Opinion by Jennifer Rubin

The Post reports on an interview with Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who said he spoke on Friday to Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.):

In their conversation, Graham questioned Raffensperger about the state’s signature-matching law and whether political bias could have prompted poll workers to accept ballots with nonmatching signatures, according to Raffensperger. Graham also asked whether Raffensperger had the power to toss all mail ballots in counties found to have higher rates of nonmatching signatures, Raffensperger said.

Raffensperger said he was stunned that Graham appeared to suggest that he find a way to toss legally cast ballots. Absent court intervention, Raffensperger doesn’t have the power to do what Graham suggested, as
counties administer elections in Georgia.

“It sure looked like he was wanting to go down that road,” Raffensperger said.

Graham denied to The Post that he encouraged Raffensperger to discard ballots, saying he was only investigating signature-matching rules. That raises the question why he would need to know this information and decide directly to contact Raffensperger, who is under death threats and has been subject to baseless accusations of misconduct by fellow Republicans.

Federal and/or state law enforcement should get to the bottom of this, requiring both parties to the conversation, and any witnesses, to preserve evidence. Stephen I. Vladeck, an election law guru and University of Texas law professor, tells me, “At least as relayed in the Post story, Sen. Graham appears to have been attempting to convince Secretary Raffensperger to alter the valid results of Georgia’s election — in a manner that may run afoul of numerous provisions of Georgia election law.” He adds, “At the very least, it’s a serious matter that might warrant further investigation — and that is grossly unbecoming of any United States senator, let alone the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

Depending on the facts — and we do not definitively know what occurred — any number of laws might be implicated.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/17/we-need-an-investigation-into-lindsey-grahams-intervention-georgia/

[mr_lebowski]

1. Graham has no power to order this and he's not accused of ordering it anyway ...

It's very unbecoming and he should be censured by his colleagues ... but I'd be surprised if asking whether Raffensburger 'had to power' to do something like this actually constitutes a criminal act.

If he was someone with actual authority over the SoS and threatened him unless he didn't do this act ... then I'm sure that's a crime.

I think this is wishful thinking on our part.