Senate Ethics Committee Publicly Blasts Lindsey Graham For Repeatedly Violating Fundraising Rules

Sen. Lindsey Graham ( R – SC ) repeatedly broke Senate Rules and” related standards of conduct by soliciting campaign contributions in a federal building ,” the Senate Ethics Committee found on Thursday.

Following the receipt of a formal complaint alleging that Graham solicited system funds for Georgia Senate nominee Herschel Walker during an interview that was held on November 30, 2022, in the Russell Senate Office Building, the Committee launched an investigation. Walker and Sen. Raphael Warnock( D-GA ) were competing in a runoff at the time.

In a letter to Graham, the Committee stated that” during your discussion of the congressional run-off election, you instantly solicited campaign efforts on behalf of Mr. Walker’s campaign council… five split times.” ” Your actions on November 30, 2022, represented a recurrence of the Senate’s code of conduct.”

The email continued,” You conducted an impromptu press interview in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on October 14, 2020, immediately following a Judiciary Committee hear.” ” You straight solicited promotion efforts for your campaign council in response to a reporter’s question regarding your fundraising campaign fundraising.” The Committee determined that your behavior was” inadvertent, technical, or otherwise of a de minimis nature ,” even though it found that it violated Senate standards of conduct. It also took into account several mitigating factors. The Committee dismissed the lawsuit on March 8, 2021, and sent you a personal letter informing you of its conclusions and course of action.

According to the Committee, U.S. lawmakers are expected to uphold social norms that are” a accountability both broader than and distinct from legal law.”

The letter stated that” the Committee is assured the Senate place understands this basic and its rationale. The specified prohibition on campaign solicitation in national buildings and the restrictions on the use of official sources for campaign activity have been consistent and clear throughout your days of Senate service.” ” The Committee finds that you did seek national campaign efforts and otherwise improperly conducted system exercise in a federal building, applying this standards to your run.”

Graham’s decision to raise money for the system in a national building, according to the Committee,” harmed the public trust and confidence in the United States Senate” despite being forewarned.

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The email concluded,” You are now admonished.”

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