Tag: Sen. Graham

Frustration builds in key committee ahead of Graham subpoena vote

The Hill logoSenate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) plans to force a vote next week on a wide-ranging subpoena as part of his probe into the Russia investigation is reviving long-simmering frustrations on the Judiciary Committee. 

Graham has set a vote for June 4 on a subpoena that would let him compel documents and interviews with dozens of officials as he plans to ramp up his months-long probe into “Crossfire Hurricane,” the name for the FBI’s investigation into Russian election interference and the Trump campaign.

Included in the subpoena, which is likely to be approved along party lines, are some of President Trump’s biggest political targets. Democrats view it as Graham’s latest breach of the panel’s bipartisan history that underscores his shift from Trump critic to ally. Continue reading.

 

Lindsey Graham’s own words get thrown back in his face in devastating attack ad

AlterNet logoSen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is getting hit with a new attack ad that throws the senator’s own words back in his face.

The ad, which was produced by a super PAC called “Lindsey Must Go,” shows all the times that Graham attacked President Donald Trump before abruptly changing to becoming a major supporter of the president.

“I think he’s a kook,” Graham says at the start of the ad. “I think he’s crazy. I think he’s unfit for office.” Continue reading.

Graham to start hearings on Russia probe, Flynn in June

The Hill logoSen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Thursday that the Senate Judiciary Committee will start hearings in June on the FBI’s investigation into Russian election interference and President Trump‘s campaign.

Graham said in a statement that the hearings will deal with the Justice Department’s decision to drop its case against former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn, the warrant applications against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and if former special counsel Robert Mueller should have been appointed.

“The Judiciary Committee will begin holding multiple, in-depth congressional hearings regarding all things related to Crossfire Hurricane starting in early June,” Graham said. Continue reading.

Graham’s embrace of Trump fuels competitive fight in South Carolina

The Hill logoSen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a vocal ally of President Trump‘s who is frequently in the political and media spotlight, is suddenly facing a competitive reelection race back home.

Graham’s alliance with Trump has helped him avoid a nasty primary fight, while fueling Democratic efforts to unseat him in November.

Scott Huffmon, a political science professor and the executive director for the Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at Winthrop University, predicted that the match-up against Jaime Harrison, the former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party and Graham’s top opponent, could be “potentially a single-digit race.”  Continue reading.

Lindsey Graham won’t stop attacking workers who’ve lost their jobs

Lindsey Graham won’t stop attacking workers who’ve lost their jobs

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) continued to attack laid-off workers in the middle of a health crisis, vowing that he would do everything he could to block an extension of additional unemployment benefits once they expire at the end of July.

“July the 31st is when this expires and I promise you, over our dead bodies, this will get reauthorized,” Graham said in front of  South Carolina’s COVID-19 advisory team on Tuesday.

Graham argued that the benefits are so generous that people will opt to receive them rather than go to work, and called them an “aberration” he promised to fix. Continue reading.

Graham to self-quarantine after Mar-a-Lago trip

The Hill logoSen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is self-quarantining after a trip to Mar-a-Lago where Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was also present. 

Graham, according to a statement from his office, “has no recollection of direct contact” with Bolsonaro, who is being monitored for the coronavirus, or his spokesman, who has tested positive.

“However, in an abundance of caution and upon the advice of his doctor, Senator Graham has decided to self-quarantine awaiting the results of a coronavirus test,” the statement from Graham’s office said.   Continue reading.

Even Lindsey Graham Warns Trump To Pay Attention To Coronavirus Science

The South Carolina senator said he “encourages” the president to “make sure that the science is behind what he says.”

One of Donald Trump’s fiercest defenders urged the president on Thursday to pay attention to scientific facts instead of spit-balling a coronavirus death rate and insisting that up to “hundreds of thousands” of Americans could catch the virus with little ill effect and still go to work.

“I don’t know what he was talking about,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters after Trump explained to Sean Hannity on Fox News that he had a “hunch” the death rate for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, is less than 1%. The World Health Organization has reported that the death rate is 3.4%.

“I would encourage the president, if he’s going to report things, to make sure that the science is behind what he says,” Graham added, noting: “I listen to the scientists when it comes to the numbers.”

Harris asks Graham to bring in Barr over Stone sentencing

She wants an explanation of the handling of the Roger Stone case.

Sen. Kamala Harris demanded Tuesday that Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) bring in Attorney General William Barr to testify about the Justice Department’s handling of the sentencing of former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone.

The California Democrat’s request comes after the Justice Department backed off a previous recommendation for a seven-to-nine-year sentence for Stone for impeding federal investigations into connections between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. The DOJ’s revised sentencing recommendation occurred after President Donald Trump tweeted that the initial recommendation was “horrible and very unfair,” though a Justice Department official speaking on condition of anonymity insisted the decision to retreat was made before Trump took aim at the initial proposal.

The revised recommendation appears to have prompted the withdrawal of the four prosecutors handling Stone’s case. Continue reading.

Lindsey Graham: ‘I’m not going to be the Republican Christopher Steele’

He wants to move forward with investigations without relying on sources from Ukraine and Russia.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham addressed the president directly Sunday as he pledged to carefully investigate Joe Biden’s son.

“If he’s watching the show, here’s what I would tell the president: I’m going to get to the bottom of the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] process, because it was an abuse of power at the Department of Justice and the FBI,” the South Carolina Republican said on CBS‘ “Face the Nation.“

He added: “We’ll make sure Hunter Biden’s conflict of interest is explored, because it’s legitimate.” Continue reading.

Lindsey Graham’s tarring of Alexander Vindman

Washington Post logoGraham warned about Russia feeding propaganda through Ukraine. Then he engaged in his own conspiracy theory about Vindman.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) gave his first Sunday show interview in the post-impeachment era of Donald Trump’s presidency. And it was something.

Over the course of a lengthy conversation with “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan, Graham left open the possibility that Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, was being “played by the Russians.” He was also asked whether Trump knows that information from Ukraine could be Russian propaganda, and he could muster only, “I hope so.” And he indicated he is increasingly skeptical about allegations that originated in Ukraine and said the Judiciary Committee he chairs may not pursue them, after all.

The totality of it suggests that an influential senator has undergone a rather conveniently timed shift when it comes to Trump’s conspiracy theories about Ukraine. Now that the theories don’t need to be vouched for in the name of defending Trump, Graham appears to be distancing himself from them. Continue reading.