We need an investigation into Lindsey Graham’s
intervention in Georgia
Opinion by
Columnist
November 17, 2020 at 6:45 a.m. CST
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.
Federal
law (18 U.S.C. Section 242) provides: “Whoever, under color of any law,
statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any
State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of
any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution
or laws of the United States shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not
more than one year, or both.” In addition, 18 U.S.C. 1038(c) states that it is a crime to conspire to violate
voting rights.
There
are also state laws that may be relevant. Georgia law GA Code § 21-2-604 (2016) provides:
(a) (1)
A person commits the offense of criminal solicitation to commit election fraud
in the first degree when, with intent that another person engage in conduct
constituting a felony under this article, he or she solicits, requests,
commands, importunes, or otherwise attempts to cause the other person to engage
in such conduct.
(2) A person commits the
offense of criminal solicitation to commit election fraud in the second degree
when, with intent that another person engage in conduct constituting a
misdemeanor under this article, he or she solicits, requests, commands,
importunes, or otherwise attempts to cause the other person to engage in such
conduct.
The
underlying felony at issue could be one of many actions that would in essence
misrepresent or falsify a vote count.
There
is also a Georgia law, GA Code § 21-2-597 (2016),
that provides: “Any person who intentionally interferes with, hinders, or
delays or attempts to interfere with, hinder, or delay any other person in the
performance of any act or duty authorized or imposed by this chapter shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor.”
The
alleged behavior is serious, unseemly and raises legitimate questions. Whether
or not any of these or other laws were broken must be investigated, but
Graham’s actions have called into question his willingness to uphold the
sanctity of elections.
“For
the chairman of the Senate committee charged with oversight of our legal system
to have reportedly suggested that an election official toss out large numbers
of legal ballots from American voters is appalling,” says Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Executive Director Noah Bookbinder. “Not
only is it wrong for Sen. Graham to apparently contemplate illegal behavior,
but his suggestion undermines the integrity of our elections and the faith of
the American people in our democracy.” He alleges, “Under the guise of rooting
out election fraud, it looks like Graham is suggesting committing it. That is
unacceptable, and Sen. Graham should step down from his chairmanship
immediately.”
Democrats,
including lawyer Marc E. Elias, who
has batted down Trump’s serial, baseless lawsuits, called for an ethics
investigation.
What we
do know is the Republicans’ lack of respect for election results, and
willingness to propound all sorts of far-fetched conspiracy theories, have
already seriously undermined trust in the election and whipped their base up
into a fury. It’s time to stop.
The
election is over.