Lindsey Graham exerted pressure on Georgia GOP to toss legal ballots

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We didn’t spend too much time talking about it because it was so depressing, but Senator Lindsey Graham “won” re-election, defeating Jaime Harrison. Harrison was a great candidate and he ran a great campaign, and money flooded into South Carolina because there were such big hopes of ousting Graham. It didn’t work out. Apparently, once Graham realized he won re-election, he began ratf–king for Donald Trump. The senior senator from South Carolina actually called Georgia Republicans and exerted pressure on them to toss out legally cast ballots:

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday that he has come under increasing pressure in recent days from fellow Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), who he said questioned the validity of legally cast absentee ballots, in an effort to reverse President Trump’s narrow loss in the state.

In a wide-ranging interview about the election, Raffensperger expressed exasperation over a string of baseless allegations coming from Trump and his allies about the integrity of the Georgia results, including claims that Dominion Voting Systems, the Colorado-based manufacturer of Georgia’s voting machines, is a “leftist” company with ties to Venezuela that engineered thousands of Trump votes to be left out of the count.

The atmosphere has grown so contentious, Raffensperger said, that he and his wife, Tricia, have received death threats in recent days, including a text to him that read: “You better not botch this recount. Your life depends on it.”

“Other than getting you angry, it’s also very disillusioning,” Raffensperger said of the threats, “particularly when it comes from people on my side of the aisle. Everyone that is working on this needs to elevate their speech. We need to be thoughtful and careful about what we say.” He said he reported the threats to state authorities.

The pressure on Raffensperger, who has bucked his party in defending the state’s voting process, comes as Georgia is in the midst of a laborious hand recount of about 5 million ballots. President-elect Joe Biden has a 14,000-vote lead in the initial count. The normally mild-mannered Raffensperger saved his harshest language for Rep. Douglas A. Collins (R-Ga.), who is leading the president’s efforts in Georgia and whom Raffensperger called a “liar” and a “charlatan.”

[From WaPo]

First off, Lindsey Graham needs to be investigated thoroughly. Investigate all of the Republicans for abuse of power, election fraud, whatever. Second, it’s really insane to see Republicans eat their own in Georgia. They’re not making a secret of any of it: national Republicans are mad that Georgia Republicans didn’t ratf–k harder and find a way to swing the state to Trump. Republicans are mad that the Republican-controlled Georgia ran a nominally fraud-free election and that so many Black voters were allowed to cast legal ballots without somehow being disenfranchised by the state’s Republican party. The state Republicans are being punished by the national party simply because they didn’t do MORE FRAUD. And yes, this is affecting the Senate runoff elections.

To donate to Jon Osoff’s Senate race, go here. To donate to Reverend Rafael Warnock’s Senate race, go here. If you live in Georgia and you are not registered to vote, go here to register (you have until December 7th). The runoff elections are on January 5th.

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63 Responses to “Lindsey Graham exerted pressure on Georgia GOP to toss legal ballots”

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  1. BayTampaBay says:

    Miss Lindsey is one nasty piece of work…aka….a BITCH!

    • Feedmechips says:

      I guess he knows that those boots won’t lick themselves.

    • Snappyfish says:

      He needs to resign. This is election tampering. Why would a US senator contact a Secretary of State of another state to suggest he toss ballots? Makes me think SC election results need to be looked at.

      This is FAR WORSE than what Al Franken resigned over. I am sick of this crime family & their sycophants. There needs to be a line drawn that shows you can not be a criminal & be the POTUS or a US senator. They need to be thrown to the wolves they have created for themselves

    • SM says:

      What’s the word for the opposite of surprise? I mean, seriously, the best proof no one stole the election, because otherwise not this not the bloated frog whose life was sucked out of by death itself Mitch would have been reelected. They are an embarrassment for entire of humanity.

    • Yup, Me says:

      And why do they all look so disgusting? Like they are literally rotting from the inside out?

      • SM says:

        I know. I think a pic of Mitch should be included in materials when teaching kids ethics at school. As an example of how a person that sold out their soul look.

  2. Sierra says:

    Democrats need to scream for Graham to resign. What he did was illegal.

    Plus I am still saying that SA, Kentucky & Texas Republicans cheated during the election. Democrats need to take them to court for an audit.

    • josephine says:

      I personally feel that advocating for citizens’ votes to be thrown in the garbage is a form of treason. Anything that compromises democrary is treason. It is an act of violence against this country. Impeachment from the Senate would be the very minimum in my view. If we want democracy to stand in the US we must prosecute all those who act against it. The new Attorney General should investigate immediately.

    • Bevvie says:

      Lady G was encouraging voter fraud. She needs to be strung up.

    • BayTampaBay says:

      SA=???

  3. Aang says:

    Someone somewhere knows what kind of tea trump or the Russians have on Graham. My fervent wish is to see that tea spilled all over the floor of the senate.

    • Rapunzel says:

      I’m looking forward to the moment Graham is exposed too. Hopefully, by Trump as he burns the house down leaving. It would be fitting.

      • Esmom says:

        Oh man, that would be fitting. As for Lindsey, JFC. And when asked about it he of course brushed it off as a “mischaracterization” by Raffensperger.

        Thank goodness we have Stacey Abrams, LaTosha Brown and others to keep fighting in GA.

    • Ann says:

      Yes. Something there’s some strong blackmail igoing on with Lindsey. He’s in deep legal trouble with whatever they’re hanging over his head. It also illustrates that this is how the Republicans work – if you have an R by your name, it’s assumed you’ll join in the corruption. I’m heartened that there’s at least one Republican out there that is speaking out.

    • escondista says:

      Why assume that there has to be blackmail for people to be corrupt pieces of sh*t? I hope awful things come out about this man too but it is just as probably that Graham is a rotten-to-the-core, evil human being.

      • Rapunzel says:

        Escondista- It’s true,, Graham has always been a POS, and would be one without blackmail.

        But people think blackmail is involved for a a few good reasons:

        1. The rumors about Graham come from accusers.
        2. He changed his tune about Trump really quickly after playing one game of golf with Trump. Like, completely reversed course on how he talked about Trump. Immediately after one golf game.
        3. The DNC was hacked. Ergo, logical that the RNC was and the dirt was kept back for a reason.

        The blackmail stuff about Graham is not just random accusation.

      • H says:

        Yeah. the Lady G stuff came from escorts, so not sure if its that or something else.

    • whatWHAT? says:

      it’s already “out”, it’s just that it hasn’t been reported by a major, reputable news source.

      he’s gay and he likes to associate with escorts. that’s it. that’s what he’s hiding and has been for all these years. the people in SC just don’t think about it and consider him to be a “life long bachelor”…if it’s not reported, then they can pretend it’s not true, and still vote for him.

      • GG says:

        South Carolinian here! Everyone knows Lindsay is a homosexual. He is literally referred to as Lindsay “light in his loafers” Graham by the older generation. While it generally feels morally repugnant to out someone who is in the closet (which is why I think some news outlets refuse to pick up the story) I think it’s fine to out someone who literally advocates for denying basic human rights to the the LGBTQ+ community when he apart of that community on the low. The thing about Lady G, is that he’s about Lady G. Lindsay can lean across the aisle if it suits him. He’s done it before. The most awful thing about his re-election is number one Jaime’s loss but two, the amount of people I knew who voted for him who (prior to this election) swore to never vote for Lindsay Graham as it’s been a life long dream for many SC residents to get him out of office. We have a lot of work to do here in SC in regards to removing the “old boys club” politics that remain in existence. While I’m super happy about the national election results (aside from Trump refusing to concede) our political activism cannot stop. If SC is going to make the necessary changes to become a state of equity and equality, we have to maintain the momentum and go into local and mid term elections and root them out from the ground up. Fortunately, we have the people willing to do the work, and that gets me excited.

      • Sid says:

        There is “gossip” that goes beyond just being gay and liking escorts. The kind of gossip that if true, means that Graham belongs UNDER the jail.

    • Leah says:

      The tea is: Lindsey is gay and has rent boys who call him Lady G. I think that’s the watered down tea and there’s tea out there that is much stronger.

      He’s a hypocrite and at the looks of continuing developments a criminal. I guess he’s unaware that election interference is a felony. Who the hell does he think he is, reaching over from South Carolina to try to influence Georgia. The run off needs to be done with paper ballots, not electronically because there is too much riding on it. If the senate goes 50/50, I want to see Mitch knocked down a few pegs when he’s faced with Kamala who gets to do the deciding vote.

      Trump won’t save him. My guess is he will throw Lindsey under the bus if it means saving himself and Ivanka.

      • Moo says:

        What could be stronger than that tea? I can think of only one thing…

      • Leah says:

        @Moo

        Crimes against the people is a much stronger tea than his taste for the mens. Trying to bribe Nevada, Arizona and Georgia into throwing out ballots, felony.

        I just hate his hypocrisy, lying and cheating.

    • holly hobby says:

      CIA are you listening? I’m sure the intelligence team has the dirt on everyone.

  4. Oh_Hey says:

    While I feel terrible for this man and he certainly doesn’t deserve death threats of Lady G breathing down his neck – what exactly did he think would happen? The GOP has been rife with a cheaters liars and thieves will to eat their own for decades. If nothing else the so called reasonable republicans should start figuring out why democrats come with about 100% less hate bigotry and death threats and come over to the light side. Lindsey is proton that drumpf was a symptom not the disease.

  5. Becks1 says:

    I’m glad he’s naming names. It’s insane that Graham et al are acting like he’s the enemy because he wont throw out legal ballots.

    This election, in my view, has really thrown into light the Republican strategy – to keep people from voting. I mean yes, many of us knew that before this, but they’re just being really blatant and open about it at this point.

    • Esmom says:

      It sure has. I feel like people have been screaming into the void for a long time about this.

    • Veronica S. says:

      Why wouldn’t they? They’ve done plenty of illegal shit up until this point and suffered no consequences for it. I really wonder if Biden is prepared for the mire he’s about to stop into. This isn’t the Republican party he knew from even eight years ago.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      Oh yes – this is proof that they are determined to stop people from voting, unless you are like them. This is why its important to take the senate so that voting rights can be protected.

  6. Mina_Esq says:

    What is this secret that Lindsay is hiding and that has made him toss out all principles and love for the country? I’d like to think that McCain wouldn’t have been friends with such a treasonous jacka$$. Is there blackmail, or has this been Graham all along?

    • Aang says:

      Blackmail. There is at least one queer sex worker (self described) in DC who says Graham and his “roommate” are regular clients. This sex worker has spoken publicly about it. Who knows if it is true? If it is someone has proof.

      • Chris says:

        I still just don’t get it. It has to be something else financial. Him being gay isn’t really the “scandal” it may have been decades ago. I hate even saying that. At this point, everyone seems to already know. It has to be a large amount of debt he’s holding.

      • Rapunzel says:

        Chris- I suspect it’s the fact that Graham likes Boys that he’s hiding. I suspect there’s similar dirt on more than a few Republicans, possibly including Epstein’s buddy Trump.

      • Chaine says:

        @Chris it would still be a major scandal in South Carolina. He would not get re-elected.

      • Lightpurple says:

        @Chris, think Kevin Spacey, only younger.

    • LightPurple says:

      What principles? What love of country? Graham has always been GOP before USA, way back to when he was harassing Monica Lewinsky.

  7. Lizzie says:

    Election tampering needs to be prosecuted.

  8. Lizzie says:

    Election tampering needs to be prosecuted.

  9. Veronica S. says:

    Oh, to be a state Republican right now with a modicum of honor and respect for democracy. Has to be an interesting position in a party of compromised corporate and foreign shills.

    As for Graham…I always found it interesting we only saw the results of the DNC’s dirty laundry rather than the RNCs, even though Russia hacked both. Makes you wonder exactly what they found and whether they’re using it to force hands.

    • Cassandra says:

      Georgia Secretary of State for Time person of the year. Seriously.

      I really admire his integrity and patriotism. I also really like that he’s calling his fellow party members out on their crap 😂

  10. Lucy2 says:

    This needs to be fully investigated, and it found to be true, he needs to be prosecuted as it’s a felony.
    I also think it’s worth taking a real look at South Carolina selection, considering hell he went from it being a neck and neck race to suddenly winning by 10 points. and if he was doing this in other states, who’s to say he didn’t do it in his own as well.

    • LightPurple says:

      South Carolina’s election needs to be audited by an outside entity.

    • Truthiness says:

      Let’s add Maine to the audit list. It was unbelievable how Collins pulled it out.

    • The Other Katherine says:

      Agreed. Manual audits need to be a thing that are commonplace, not a special circumstance that only happens in close races.

  11. Rapunzel says:

    I’m still in shock that Graham and McConnell got re-elected. I’m hoping it’s karma setting up maximum disgrace for them when their secrets are unloaded.

    It will happen: the RNC was hacked in 2016 and those secrets have been used by Putin/Trump to keep the Republicans in line. Now that Biden is taking office, it will behoove Trump/Putin to spill that boiling tea and cause chaos. Especially if the Dems win the GA run offs and get control of the Senate.

    I’m so looking forward to the chickens coming home to roost.

    • Veronica S. says:

      McConnell doesn’t shock me. McGrath was behind the whole time. The people who vote for him do it for spite of the other side. South Carolina and Texas were the big surprises given the polls. Either the polls were way off due to people lying or refusing to answer, or they straight up had something shady going on.

      • Lucy2 says:

        Maine and Iowa too had polling that was very different than the outcomes of the election. I know the polls were way off in some cases, but hearing that Graham did this makes everything feel suspicious.

      • Rapunzel says:

        Veronica- When I said I was shocked, I simply meant I can’t believe people voted for these fools, not that there was shady stuff happening. There might be in Graham’s case, but McConnell’s? Probably not. I tend to think the polls just suck and most folks don’t pay enough attention to local/state races, so they vote incumbent because those names might be more familiar.

      • Veronica S. says:

        Oh no, I understood what you meant. It is genuinely shocking that anybody would vote for that trash, but my come to Jesus moment was when his polls went up the worse he behaved, so that was an illuminating look into the mindset of his voting constituency. McConnell and Paul live there for a reason. They could easily afford to go to any other state. They stick it out there because they know damn well no state with a population over 4.5million would ever put them in a position of power.

  12. Swack says:

    Saw an interview with him and Wolf Blitzer and the one thing that struck me the most is that he said of course he is disappointed that his party lost but the integrity of his office (and him) was more important.

  13. Chris says:

    This is all so interesting because you can see Republicans beginning to back away from Trump and trumpism behind the scenes since Trump will be out of office soon. They’re still publicly supporting trump in a mealy mouth way, but they’re maneuvering for a trump less government. McConnell losing support for the fed chair nominee may be a sign of that. They’re all immoral cowards.

    So I’m very curious why some are protecting Trump so outwardly to the point of intimidating their own party. It makes me think there is something possibly illegal going on.

  14. Nicole says:

    Also donate to Stacey Abrams site FairFight.org which organizing boots on the ground in GA and fighting voter disenfranchisement. We all win when we all vote.

  15. Winterberry says:

    I imagine that Graham may be being blackmailed, but he is also freaked out because he didn’t expect to have to work so hard to be re-elected. If Georgia really goes blue because African-Americans are stepping into their voting power the same thing might happen next door in SC, and that would be his nightmare…

  16. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    This shit needs behind bars consequences. Unreal. Traitorous in every sense. This is domestic terrorism.

  17. Ann says:

    Lindsey is hiding some dark secrets. It’s not just the closet case situation. There’s more. He has collapsed so thoroughly. So openly. So ridiculously sloppy.

    I will not hold my breath that he faces any consequences but this is a big fat felony. The head of the judiciary committee is openly committing felonies. God help us if he gets away with it.

  18. Diane says:

    HOW IS THIS NOT CRIMINAL?

  19. Moo says:

    Boy, he sure is Evil personified.

  20. GuestwithCat says:

    So. Much. Tea. I never knew all these things about him and the Lady G stuff.

  21. jferber says:

    How I hate that troll. He and Mitch McConnell are my two picks for the WORST trump enablers and boot lickers/ass kissers. Sad! Lock them up. Flouting the Constitution they vowed to uphold. Sickening scum.