The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reverberated through the capital over the weekend, and some of the veteran interventionist's final remarks have lent the loss an unsettling poignancy.
Gage Skidmore/FlickrIn a telephone call with an unnamed individual, Mr. Graham, 71, said he intended to seek medical attention for feeling unwell, but only after his scheduled appearance Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." On the same call, the senator joked about deferring his own mortality.
"I can't die now. I still need to do the Russia sanctions, get Iran sorted out and do Israeli-Saudi normalization," the senator said, according to Axios.
Graham's office announced his death early Sunday, hours after he returned from Ukraine, where he toured a secret military drone factory and held talks with Volodymyr Zelensky.
The senator also spoke Saturday evening with President Donald Trump about the Ukraine trip and the bipartisan Russia sanctions package he had been working to advance through Congress alongside Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the New York Post reports.
Preliminary findings released by the District of Columbia medical examiner's office indicated Graham died from "Aortic Dissection due to Arteriosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease." The condition, a tear in the body's main artery, predominantly affects older men.
Trump said Monday he has recommended that the senator's sister serve as his temporary replacement in the Senate. In a social-media post, the president urged Gov. Henry McMaster (R) to appoint Darline Graham Nordone to fill the remainder of Graham's term, which expires in January.
McMaster is expected to announce his selection later Monday. A special election is scheduled for next month to choose a new Republican nominee in the general election for the seat.
H/T CAPITAL News
Tyler Durden Mon, 07/13/2026 - 12:20Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness,
The Trump Justice Department has secured roughly two dozen non-citizens voting arrests, prosecutions or convictions in the last few months, with another nearly 90 more cases under investigation.
Just the News reports that the wave of prosecutions represents a growing number of individuals charged in the last year with illegally voting in U.S. federal elections as foreigners.
Department of Justice (DOJ) officials say all 50 states were sent notices this month that election officials can and will be prosecuted too if they allow non-citizens to vote.
🚨 TRUMP DOJ DROPPING BOMBS ON ELECTION CHEATERS
Congressman Jim Jordon just unloaded: While the Save America Act stalls thanks to Senate RINOs hiding behind the filibuster, the Trump Justice Department is WARNING election officials in ALL 50 states, criminal prosecution if you… pic.twitter.com/H6fMxI8KJm
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon told the Just the News, “This is not some idle threat.”
The letters state that state election officers face potential criminal penalties for “aiding and abetting” non-citizen voting. This includes knowingly retaining non-citizens on voting registration lists or assisting them with obtaining and casting ballots.
State officials were given a strict 5-day deadline by the DOJ to submit explanations of how they are complying with federal voter eligibility laws.
Dhillon drew a clear line on non-citizen voting, saying:
It isn’t just bad policy to let non-citizens vote in federal elections, it’s a crime. And this Department of Justice will intend to prosecute that crime if these election officials, having been informed that they are non-citizens on the voter rolls, knowingly allow those people to vote, enable their enrollment on the voter rolls, are passive in the face of this knowledge, etc.
Dhillon believes the numbers of foreigners illicitly voting in elections is probably higher but has been frustrated that U.S. Attorney offices across the country haven’t made illegal voting a larger priority until just recently.
Federal law requires voters to be American citizens to vote on the federal level, but some states and cities allow non-citizens to vote in local elections.
The DOJ push comes as President Donald Trump tries to persuade a hesitant U.S. Senate to pass the Save America Act that would impose citizenship and voter ID on all federal election voters.
Tyler Durden Mon, 07/13/2026 - 12:00