Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., didn’t mince words at a news conference on Thursday as he touted his resolution formally condemning House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, saying the proceedings defy historical precedent and deny fundamental “due process” to the White House.
“If we were doing this, you’d be beating the sh– out of us,” Graham bluntly told a reporter at one point, accusing Democrats of selectively leaking portions of testimony and opening statements from their closed-door hearings, without affording Republicans the opportunity to subpoena or publicly cross-examine witnesses. “And, I think it says a lot about people in your business, with all due respect.”
He continued: “We’re not telling the House they can’t impeach the president. What we’re telling the House is, there’s a right way to do it, and a wrong way to do it. … This is one part legal, and two parts politics.”
Graham, who said his resolution had 41 Republican cosponsors “and climbing,” noted that 31 Democrats had voted to open an impeachment inquiry into Bill Clinton in 1998. But, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has refused to hold a vote on beginning proceedings against President Trump, and instead unilaterally announced that the inquiry had begun.
The move to put House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., in charge of the inquiry was only a small part of Democrats’ “substantial deviation from what the House has done in the past,” Graham asserted, noting that the Judiciary Committee has typically handled impeachment probes.
Seeking to bolster his commitment to administrative fairness, Graham noted that he previously supported legislation that would have protected then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller from being terminated by Trump.
“The attempt to open an inquiry into the impeachment of President Trump failed miserably, so they’ve created a new process, which I think is very dangerous for the country,” Graham told reporters. – READ MORE