Politics
US Election: Georgia’s secretary of state Accuses Senator Lindsey Graham
In an interview with “CBS This Morning” on Tuesday, Raffensperger detailed a phone call he had with Graham, one of Mr. Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, during which he said the senator suggested absentee ballots from counties with high rates of non matching signatures be disqualified.
“When Senator Graham called, I just assumed that he was calling about the two runoffs for the senators, so I called him back,” Raffensperger said. “During our discussion, he asked if ballots could be matched back to the envelope — the absentee ballots could be matched back to the envelope. I explained our process, after it went through two sets of signature matches, at that point they were separated. But then Senator Graham implied for us to audit the envelopes and then throw out the ballots for counties who have the highest frequency error of signatures. I tried to help explain that because we did a signature match, you couldn’t tie the signatures back anymore to those ballots.”
Raffensperger told “CBS This Morning” that he spoke with his legal counsel about Graham’s comments and “decided the best action was not to get back and re-engage.”
“When I went down this other path, I think the best thing was just to disengage and move forward,” he said. “We want to make sure that every legal vote counts and every illegal vote doesn’t count.”
Raffensperger’s phone call with Graham was first reported by The washington post.
The South Carolina senator told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday that Raffensperger’s characterization of his comments was “ridiculous.”
“I thought it was a good conversation,” he said. “I’m surprised to hear him characterize it that way.”
Graham said he reached out to Raffensperger on his own, not at Mr. Trump’s urging, as he wanted to learn more about Georgia’s signature verification process.
“If he feels threatened by that conversation, he’s got a problem,” the senator said. “I actually thought it was a good conversation. I learned a lot about it. Rather than hearing all these internet things, I just call the guy and say, how does it work, how can you make it better?”
GEORGIA, a state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 28 years, has become a target of Mr. Trump as he alleges without evidence the election was rigged against him and rife with fraud. CBS News projected Mr. Biden was the winner of Georgia’s presidential race and the winner of the White House, though the president continues to falsely assert that he won a second term.
Raffensperger announced last week the state would conduct a manual hand recount of all ballots cast in the presidential race and rebuffed suggestions the decision to audit the results was aimed at appeasing Mr. Trump, saying instead it made sense given the tight margin of the race and its significance.
But the president has called the recount a “scam” that “means nothing.”
Along with the continued attacks on Raffensperger from Mr. Trump and some Republicans, the Republican secretary of state said he and his wife have received death threats, which he attributed to “everyone that’s been spinning people up.”
“I’m a conservative Republican, always have been. I’ve never voted for a Democrat. A lot of these people that are spinning up the crowd used to be Democrats,” he said. “I’ve always been a conservative Republican and I want to make sure we have a lawful process because I think integrity still matters.”
Raffensperger said he believes many people now have “inflamed emotions,” but “eventually when people really come to accept the hard fact, this is what the results are.”
In addition to Georgia being a focal point of the presidential race, the state is poised to become the center of the political world as two of its Senate races head to runoff elections on January 5. With GOP incumbent Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler fighting to hold on to their seats, the runoffs will determine whether Republicans maintain their hold on the Senate.
Perdue and Loeffler called for Raffensperger to resign last week due to what they said was “mismanagement and lack of transparency” in its elections this year, though he rebuffed their criticisms.
Breaking: Speaker Obasa Debunks Allegation Of Spending N17b On Assembly Gate
The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, on Thursday described the allegation that the House spent N17 billion on the fixing of a gate as spurious and funny.
A self-proclaimed group, Lagos State Anti-Corruption Coalition, had accused the Assembly of spending the amount to construct a gate. The group also sought investigation of the claim.
Speaking at plenary, Dr. Obasa said the allegation stemmed from the fear of some people over 2027 which is still more than two years away.
Obasa further debunked the claim that the House spent N200 million on its recently organised 22nd thanksgiving service for staff.
“It is so funny. How much is the allocation of the Assembly in the whole year that we will decide to spend N17 billion on a gate? They even claimed that we expended 200 million on thanksgiving that did not hold.
“We are aware that at a period like this when we are approaching elections in 2027, we should expect such things. I think some people are scared and I don’t know why.
“This House did not and has not embarked on any such project. We are not that reckless. We had our thanksgiving last Friday and dignitaries from various parts of the State attended it,” the Speaker said.
Addressing further claims by the group about the alleged relationship between him and the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, the Speaker denied attending the latter’s screening and confirmation by the National Assembly.
“They said that I was at the National Assembly when they were confirming the EFCC chairman. I want to believe that there are CCTV cameras at the National Assembly to identify those who attended the event. The press must have written about it too. So the group should do more to confirm if I was there.
“This is just to deny the allegations in the interest of the public and not the writers because the writers are not those we should be joining words with,” the Speaker said.
Earlier, the House, through its spokesperson, Hon. Stephen Ogundipe, had addressed the allegations noting that the Assembly bases its activities on integrity, transparency and accountability.
“It is ludicrous the claim about constituency intervention funds and constituency project funds and their handling by Speaker Mudashiru Obasa and Clerk of the House, Barr. Olalekan Onafeko as claimed by the group.
“One would have expected a self-acclaimed anti-corruption crusading group to do its groundwork before jumping across the fence with conviction that it hit a jackpot to malign an institution of repute in the name of politics.
“Simply put, the Lagos State House of Assembly does not have any such funds. The Assembly does not embark on constituency projects. Instead, once every year, the House holds stakeholders’ meetings simultaneously across the state where constituents have the opportunity to tell the lawmakers their expectations and make requests for the betterment of the state.
“These requests and expectations are compiled and sent to the executive arm of government for consideration as inputs in subsequent budgets. If this is what the group takes as constituency intervention or project funds, we are sure this explanation has given the required education, moreover, it is common knowledge that it is the responsibility of the Executive arm to execute such projects,” the earlier statement by Ogundipe read.
Eromosele Ebhomele
Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
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