lindsey graham transition of power
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
  • Senator Lindsey Graham pleaded for campaign donations after the hearing to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. 
  • Graham is in a tight Senate race in South Carolina against Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison.
  • It’s illegal to solicit campaign contributions in a federal building. 
  • Harrison has raised a record $57 million from July through September, compared to Graham’s $28 million. 
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Senator Lindsey Graham pleaded for campaign donations after the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. 

“I think people in South Carolina are excited about Judge Barrett. I don’t know how much it affected fundraising today, but if you want to help me close the gap,” Graham said to reporters after the hearing.

It was quickly noted that it’s illegal to solicit campaign contributions inside a federal building. 

“Senate Members and staff may not receive or solicit campaign contributions in any federal building,” according to the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.

Graham’s Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison has raised a record $57 million from July through September — the highest quarterly fundraising for a Senate candidate in history, Newsweek reported. Graham told reporters he raised $28 million. 

The Republican senator made the same plea during an interview with Fox & Friends. Graham asserted that Harrison's support mostly came from out of state in an effort to unseat him. 

Graham also brought up the Senate race and finances during Tuesday's SCOTUS hearings. 

"I'd like to know where the hell it's coming from," Graham said, Politico reported. 

Graham, the chairman of the committee, appears to be banking on his role in getting another conservative judge on the Supreme Court to help him keep his seat in the Senate. 

He previously said he wouldn't consider a Supreme Court nominee in an election year, but has been a champion of pushing Barrett's nomination through a few weeks before the election. 

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