WASHINGTON – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) continued to single-handedly stall passage of a bipartisan bill to fund the government Friday morning, demanding he have a right to sue the federal government for accessing his phone records.
Graham objected to a provision in the spending package repealing the ability of U.S. senators whose records were collected in a Jan. 6 investigation to claim millions of dollars in damages. Graham, whose phone metadata was collected by the Department of Justice, helped pass the law last year. The House of Representatives voted unanimously to repeal it this month and attached the provision to the government funding proposal.
In an angry speech on the Senate floor, Graham addressed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his conference in the House.
“You could have called me about the $500,000,” Graham said, referring to the amount of damages senators can get per phone record accessed. “I would be glad to work with you. You jammed me, Speaker Johnson. I won’t forget this.”
Under existing law, Graham is eligible to sue the Justice Department for each violation, which lawmakers have estimated could be as much as several million dollars if the subpoenas covered records for multiple phones on multiple days.
