Ethics panel admonishes Graham for soliciting campaign funds during Fox interview in Senate building 

The Senate Ethics Select Committee spoke to Senator Lindsey Graham (RS. C.) formally warned in a letter on Thursday.

The Ethics Committee found that during a nine-minute interview with Fox, Graham had “directly solicited donations to the campaign” on behalf of Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker “five separate times.”

The panel concluded that Graham “conducted unauthorized campaign activities on federal buildings,” and his actions were consistent with the senator’s use of public resources only for official actions, not for partisan political activities. I concluded that I violated the standard of being able to do so.

“Your actions have failed to live up to that standard and have resulted in a loss of public trust and confidence in the U.S. Senate. James Lankford (Republic, Oklahoma) wrote in a March 23 letter to Graham:

The panel found that Graham violated the Senate’s code of conduct when he “asked directly for campaign donations to your campaign committee” during a media interview at the Dirksen Senate office building in October 2020. clarified.

Coons and Lankford explained that the commission determined the conduct was “negligent, technical, or otherwise.” Deminimis nature,” and eventually dismissed complaints about the incident in March 2021. Graham was informed of his findings and actions through personal letters.

However, the Ethics Committee considered a violation of an October 2020 Senate rule in its decision to publicly warn Graham on Thursday.

Graham said he sought donations to Walker’s campaign “despite the committee’s specific guidance following your violation in October 2020.”

The committee informed Graham that it had launched an investigation into Graham’s request for funding Walker after receiving a complaint containing a link to a video clip of the interview.

Walker lost to Senator Rafael Warnock (D-Gala) in the December runoff.

The Commission acknowledged that Graham provided information to the Commission during the investigation.

The Senate Ethics Manual states that federal law — 18 USC Section 607 — restricts the solicitation or receipt of political contributions on federal buildings or other federal facilities.

“It is unlawful for any person to solicit or receive donations … in a room or building occupied for the performance of official duties.”