Thursday during an appearance on Fox News, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) urged President Donald Trump not to cooperate with the impeachment proceedings underway in Congress.
Graham rejected what he called “a partisan impeachment,” and warned cooperation would threaten executive privilege for future presidents.
“I don’t blame the president for not participating in the House impeachment inquiry,” he said on “The Story.” “I supported Mueller. I gave him the space he needed to look at the president for two [years]. What I’m telling you is this is a partisan impeachment. And if I were the president of the United States, I would not cooperate at all with these people until the court said I had to.”
“They impeached President Trump because he dared to go to court,” Graham continued. “I’ve never said a president has to waive executive privilege. The House chose not to allow the president to go to court. Instead of allowing him to go to court to litigate these issues, they impeached him for his decision to go to court. I hope we reject this soundly because it is a danger to the presidency.”
Graham contrasted the Department of Justice special counsel probe led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller to the impeachment inquiry led by Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Jerry Nadler (D-NY) in the House and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in the Senate.
“I took Mueller seriously,” he added. “I don’t take [Adam] Schiff, [Jerry] Nadler seriously. And I don’t take Chuck Schumer seriously when he says he is looking for the truth. He is looking to be the majority leader, nothing more.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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