Lindsey Graham just confessed
Yesterday, Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger revealed that Senator Lindsey Graham privately tried to pressure him into throwing out legally cast ballots in the presidential election. This is felony election tampering. Graham could go to prison for this, once Trump and Barr no longer have control of the DOJ. But, as in all criminal cases, evidence and witnesses are key. It turns out Raffensperger had multiple staffers on the call, who are all witnesses. But it gets even better, because Graham just confessed. No, really.
Lindsey Graham just told reporters that he’s not only spoken to Raffensperger in Georgia, he’s also spoken to the Secretaries of State in Arizona and Nevada. This is bizarre. Merely speaking to election officials isn’t necessarily a crime. But Graham’s specific act of asking Georgia’s Secretary of State to throw out legally cast ballots is a crime. And now Graham has just pointed investigators to two additional states to look into. Strangely, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs – a Democrat – just tweeted that she has not spoken to Graham. So does Graham understand what he’s confessing to? Which official did he speak to in Arizona? Update, 12:28pm: Graham is now claiming he spoke with Arizona’s Republican Governor Doug Ducey instead.
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance says that there is already “more than enough” evidence to open a federal investigation into Lindsey Graham’s actions – and that’s precisely what we expect the post-Trump DOJ will do. The big question now is whether Graham seeks and/or receives a federal pardon on Trump’s way out the door. Such a pardon could keep Graham out of prison, depending on whether he also violated state laws. But a pardon would be a confession of guilt, and could effectively crush Graham’s Senate career.
