Tag: Sen. Graham

McConnell, Graham leave room for Barr to withhold parts of Mueller report

Other congressional leaders, Trump call on attorney general to release full report to public

While Democratic lawmakers and many of their Republican colleagues called on Attorney General William P. Barr to publicly release the full Mueller report, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham left room for Barr to keep parts of it under wraps at the Justice Department.

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III delivered the final report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections and possible collusion between Russia and the Donald Trump campaign to Barr on Friday.

“The Attorney General has said he intends to provide as much information as possible. As I have said previously, I sincerely hope he will do so as soon as he can, and with as much openness and transparency as possible,” McConnell said in a statement.

View the complete March 22 article by Griffin Connolly on The Roll Call website here.

Graham sums up how stupid the GOP has become

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) once said President Trump was unfit for office. Now Graham can’t stop praising Trump. (JM Rieger/The Washington Post)

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in a number of ways epitomizes the Republican Party’s descent into intellectual rot and immoral opportunism. Graham as a candidate called out President Trump as a bigot and “the most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican Party.”

As one of the late Sen. John McCain’s closest friends, Graham decried autocrats, stood up for human rights and castigated President Barack Obama for failing to exercise global leadership. He considered himself a defender of the military and our national intelligence community.

He’s now among the worst apologists for Trump — vowing to investigate unsubstantiated smears of the Justice Department and FBI and insisting there was no collusion between the Trump team and the Russians (despite evidence of Paul Manafort’s meeting with Konstantin Kilimnik, the Trump Tower June 2016 meeting and the Roger Stone-WikiLeaks connection.)

View the February 20 commentary by Jennifer Rubin on The Washington Post website here.

Graham: Senate Will Investigate FBI ‘Bias Against Trump’

Credit: Brian C. Frank, Reuters

Lindsey Graham is back at it again, using his position as chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee to try and run defense for his buddy Donald Trump.

One day after a judge ruled that former Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort violated his plea agreement when he lied to federal agents, Graham announced he’s going to conduct an investigation into a conspiracy theory surrounding former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Trump and his defenders on Fox News have tried to claim that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant used to wiretap Page — an energy consultant who has documented Russian ties and has given bizarre interviews on cable news — is evidence of some kind of bias against the Trump campaign by the FBI.

View the complete February 14 article by Emily Singer on the National Memo website here.

Senators trash Lindsey Graham for wanting to investigate Hillary emails more

Credit: Alex Wong, Getty Images

Instead of investigating Trump crime and corruption, Lindsey Graham will attack Hillary Clinton.

Trump ally and golf buddy Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is being mocked for his plans to use the Senate Judiciary Committee to settle old scores and abuse his power by investigating Hillary Clinton.

Graham only recently became the chairman of the committee. And rather than investigate the wide array of scandals that have surfaced involving Trump, Trump’s henchman, the Trump family, and other Republicans, Graham said he wants to investigate Clinton’s email server and the decisions that led the FBI to investigate Trump campaign aides like Carter Page.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) laughed about Graham’s plot, saying Graham was trying to relive the “thrilling days of yesteryear.”

View the complete January 22 article by Oliver Willis on the ShareBlue website here.

Lindsey Graham Awkwardly Tries To Walk Back Vow To Unleash ‘Holy Hell’ On Trump HuffPost

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is attempting to explain his reversal on a 2017 threat that there would be “holy hell to pay” if President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Although Sessions got the boot this week, Graham vowed instead to work with Trump “to find a confirmable, worthy successor.”

When confronted with his previous comments on Thursday, Graham chuckled.

View the complete November 9 article by Ed Mazza on the Huffington Post website on the Yahoo News website here.

Graham: ‘Fake news’ to say Russia did not meddle in US election

The following article by Emily Birnbaum was posted on the Hill  website July 1, 2018:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday said it is “fake news” to say that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 presidential election.

“The idea that Russia did not meddle in our election is fake news,” Graham said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“They did meddle in our election and they’re doing it again in 2018,” he added.

View the complete article on the Hill website here.

Graham: Mueller should probe report Trump wanted to fire him

The following article by Julia Manchester was posted on the Hill website January 28, 2018:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday said special counsel Robert Mueller should take a look at reports that President Trump tried to fire him last summer.

“I don’t know if the story is true or not, but I know this: Mueller should look at it,” Graham said on ABC’s “This Week.”  Continue reading “Graham: Mueller should probe report Trump wanted to fire him”

Democrats Push Back Against Graham, Grassley Dossier Criminal Referral

The following article by Griffin Connolly was posted on the Roll Call website January 8, 2018:

Graham looks like a ‘man possessed’ over dossier obsession, Swalwell says

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is among those pushing for a criminal investigation into the author of the Trump Russia dossier. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

A Democrat on the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham “looks like a man possessed” as he and other Republican lawmakers amp up pressure on the main actors behind the Trump dossier alleging the president is compromised by ties to Russia.

Graham and Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley of Iowa recommended a criminal investigation into Christopher Steele, the dossier author, for making false statements to federal investigators.

California Rep. Eric Swalwell, one of a slew of Democrats to denounce the Republican senators for the criminal referral, criticized Graham for losing his way in deference to President Donald Trump. Continue reading “Democrats Push Back Against Graham, Grassley Dossier Criminal Referral”

Senior Republican refers Trump-Russia dossier author for possible charges

The following article by Devlin Barrett and Tom Hamburger was posted on the Washington Post website January 5, 2018:

Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, shown in London in March. (Victoria Jones/PA Images/AP)

The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended Friday that the Justice Department investigate for possible criminal charges the author of the now-famous dossier alleging the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin during the 2016 election.

The move by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) marks a major escalation in conservatives’ challenges to the FBI’s credibility as the agency investigates whether any Trump associates committed crimes. Another Republican, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), joined in the letter to the Justice Department.

Their letter makes what is called a criminal referral to the Justice Department, suggesting it investigate the dossier’s author, former British spy Christopher Steele, for possibly lying to the FBI. It is a crime to lie to FBI agents about a material fact relevant to an ongoing investigation. Continue reading “Senior Republican refers Trump-Russia dossier author for possible charges”