Senate Ethics Committee admonishes Lindsey Graham

The Senate Ethics Committee said on Thursday that South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham violated House rules during a Fox News appearance last year demanding donations to Herschel Walker’s campaign in Georgia. said.

In a letter released by the committee, Delaware Democratic Speaker Chris Coons and Oklahoma Republican Vice-President James Lankford sought funding while Graham was in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building in November. During an interview on Wednesday, he said he violated Senate rules. Soliciting campaign donations at federal buildings is against Senate rules.

In the roughly nine-minute interview, more than four minutes were spent discussing the 2022 Georgia runoff election between Walker and Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, Graham said, according to the committee, “five times. I was looking for election funds.

In that letter, the Ethics Committee issued a “warning” but chose not to sanction Graham.

“People must be confident that member states will use public resources only for official action in the best interests of the United States, not for partisan political activity,” they wrote. “Your actions have failed to live up to that standard and have resulted in a loss of public trust and confidence in the United States Senate. You are hereby advised.”

Graham later responded in a statement: I take responsibility. I will do my best to do better in the future. “

The panel also noted that Graham solicited donations during an impromptu media interview at the Dirksen Senate office building in October 2020, and said Graham was a repeat offender.

“In response to a reporter’s question about re-election campaign funding, you solicited campaign funds directly for the campaign committee,” wrote Coons and Lankford.

The two senators said they considered “several mitigating factors” in the 2020 complaint and determined that Graham’s conduct was “negligent, technical, or otherwise committed.” Deminimis They said they had dismissed the complaint and informed him personally of their findings.