Lindsey Graham melts down on live national television
On the evening of January 6, after the Capitol was attacked by insurrectionists, with a number of deaths and more than one hundred police injured, Senator Lindsey Graham appeared to have awakened to the monster he wrought. He said enough and that the president had lost. But now, on the eve of the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump, Graham appears to be his normal self. On today’s Sunday talk show circuit, he appeared to have indicated Trump should be criminally charged.
On Face the Nation this Sunday, the following exchange took place with Margaret Brennan:
SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah, well, here’s what I would say, that if you believe you committed a crime, he can be prosecuted like any other citizen. Impeachment is a political process. We’ve never impeached a president once they’re out of office. I think this is a very bad idea. Forty-five plus Republicans are going to vote early on that it’s unconstitutional. It’s not a question of how the trial ends. It’s a question of when it ends. Republicans are going to view this as an unconstitutional exercise. And the only question is, will they call witnesses? How long does the trial take? But the outcome is really not in doubt. That doesn’t mean what happened on January the 6th was okay. It means this impeachment, in the eyes of most Republicans, is an unconstitutional exercise.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
SEN. GRAHAM: The president’s behavior, in my view, is not a crime, but he can be charged with one if people think he committed it because he’s now a private citizen.
While Graham is wrong on the issue of impeaching someone after they have left office, he is right that Trump can and should be indicted.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.