Sen. Lindsey Graham said Thursday he will hear Sen. Josh Hawley make his case next week against Congress certifying President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s election victory, but cast doubt on his colleague’s prospects for success.
“Senator Hawley has every right to object,” said Mr. Graham, South Carolina Republican and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “But it’s another thing to overturn an election of another state.”
Mr. Hawley, Missouri Republican, announced Wednesday he will object when Congress meets next week to count the Electoral College votes affirming Mr. Biden’s decisive victory over President Trump.
Citing concerns about how the election was conducted in several states, including Pennsylvania in particular, Mr. Hawley said he will raise them on the Senate floor and possibly trigger a debate.
“I will listen to what he has to say about Pennsylvania or any other state, but you’re going to have to prove, to me, that the allegations you make are real,” Mr. Graham reacted on Fox News.
“If dead people were voting, I want the names,” said Mr. Graham, a steadfast Trump supporter. “If you’re going to retry the case in the Senate that’s already been tried in the federal courts it would be hard for me to basically take over the federal courts’ role. But I will listen and we’ll see how it comes out.”
Mr. Graham also noted that Barbara Boxer, a former senator from California, previously tried a similar course of action as Mr. Hawley in 2004 but mustered zero support among her Democratic colleagues.
“She made these objections and she got one vote: her vote,” Mr. Graham recalled.
Congress is set to count the Electoral College’s votes on Wednesday, Jan. 6, setting the stage for Mr. Biden to be sworn in two weeks later.
Mr. Trump, who argues he actually won the election because of fraud, has encouraged his supporters to protest as Congress meets in joint session to certify the election.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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