A former U.S. attorney on Thursday asked the Georgia Board of Elections to investigate allegations that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) pressured Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to throw out legally cast ballots.
In the letter, first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, former U.S. attorney and Democratic state legislator Michael J. Moore called on the board to investigate whether the South Carolina senator violated state law in his conversations with Raffensperger.
“I am particularly concerned that the chairman of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee would make any attempt to interfere with the Georgia Secretary of State as he endeavored to lawfully perform his constitutional duties in overseeing the 2020 election and the counting, and re-counting, of the votes cast in the state of Georgia,” wrote Moore, who was appointed by former President Obama to serve as U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia from 2010-2015.
Moore also asked the board to investigate whether Graham had attempted to discard ballots in the Jan. 5 runoff election, which will determine both of the state’s senators and control of the upper chamber in Washington.
The Georgia secretary of state said in November that Graham asked him if he had the power to toss ballots in counties where the rates of nonmatching signatures were high. Graham has denied any wrongdoing in his communications with Raffensperger, telling reporters he was seeking information about the signature verification process and said he was “surprised to hear [Raffensperger] characterize it that way.”
A witness has backed up Raffensperger’s version of events.
“I am confident that a thorough investigation … will bolster public confidence in Georgia’s election outcome and will deter any future efforts to disenfranchise the voters of the sacred and fundamental right to choose their leaders,” Moore wrote.
The request comes weeks after three ethics experts who have been outspoken critics of President Trump called for a Senate investigation of Graham’s actions.
The Hill has reached out to Graham’s office for comment.