Free Republic

Washington (CNN)South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham announced Thursday he would vote "yes" for Gina Haspel to be CIA director, bucking the request of one of his closest friends in Congress, Sen. John McCain, who opposes Haspel's nomination. "I intend to support Gina Haspel to serve as the first female Director of the CIA," Graham said in his statement. "Ms. Haspel has rejected the interrogation policies of the past. She is fully committed to following the law that prevents future abuses. This law, among others, includes the Detainee Treatment Act which I helped author. Gina Haspel should be confirmed as...

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation on Thursday to protect special counsel Robert Mueller. In a 14-7 vote, the panel approved the bipartisan proposal that deeply divided Republicans on the committee. With every committee Democrat backing the legislation, only one Republican was needed to secure passage. In the end, 4 Republicans voted for the measure. The vote marks the first time Congress has advanced legislation to formally protect Mueller from being fired as Trump has publicly railed against him, and reportedly privately talked of firing him. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)...

Out of the blocks early, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham on Thursday vowed to support President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election bid. The show of solidarity from the South Carolina Republican comes as many other members of the GOP are waiting to weigh in on their party leader. Graham, who has butted heads with the president in the past and also faced him as a 2016 GOP presidential primary challenger, fired off two tweets stating his support for the sitting president. In the post, Graham tagged Trump, an active social media user, when he tweeted: "As to the 2020 presidential race, I...

Sen. Lindsey Graham slammed the Trump administration's response in Syria, after a briefing with top military officials that he said "unnerved" him, CBS News' Alan He reports. "Everything in that briefing made me more worried, not less," the South Carolina Republican said after a briefing lawmakers had with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford on Tuesday. "This makes no sense to me." Graham went on to say he doesn't know "how in the world we can destroy ISIL relying on local police in a country dominated" by Syrian President Bashar Assad, who the U.S. believes...

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., criticized the military strikes President Trump ordered against Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack against civilians, calling them an “underwhelming response” and “major step backwards.” Graham said the air and missile strikes that targeted three chemical weapons facilities in Syria were a “missed opportunity” and were not a sufficient enough response to Syrian President Bashar Assad, during an interview Monday with “The Hugh Hewitt Show.” “Didn’t lay a glove on Assad’s capabilities to wage war. We’re becoming the chemical weapons police. We don’t have a strategy about why Syria matters,” Graham said. “It...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham released the following statement on the U.S. strikes in Syria. “I applaud and admire the bravery of our men and women in uniform. They continue to carry out their duties and responsibilities in a manner which makes all Americans proud. “President Trump deserves credit for working with our allies and ordering this strike against Assad. He is a ruthless butcher who has murdered hundreds of thousands of Syrians and should be considered a war criminal. “But I fear that when the dust settles this strike will be seen as a weak military response and...

Four senators — two Republicans and two Democrats — are taking a step to protect special counsel Robert Mueller's job as President Donald Trump muses about firing him. Legislation offered on Wednesday by Republicans Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democrats Chris Coons of Delaware and Cory Booker of New Jersey would give any special counsel a 10-day window to seek expedited judicial review of a firing.

A group of bipartisan senators is introducing new legislation to limit President Trump's ability to fire special counsel Robert Mueller. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Christopher Coons (D-Del.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) will introduce the legislation, the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, on Wednesday. The legislation would let Mueller, or any other special counsel, receive an "expedited judicial review" within 10 days of being fired to determine if it was for a "good cause." If it was determined it wasn't, he would be reinstated. It would also codify regulations that only a senior Justice Department official can...

Senate Republican leaders sharply warned President Trump not to fire Robert S. Mueller III on Tuesday — but they once again stopped short of embracing legislation to protect the special counsel. “I haven’t seen clear indication yet that we needed to pass something to keep him from being removed, because I don’t think that’s going to happen,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). McConnell did not elaborate on why he believed that. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), his top deputy, said he also didn’t believe Mueller would be removed. Asked why, he replied, “I think the consequences of doing so...

On this weekend’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said if President Donald Trump removed U.S. troops from Syria, it would be “a disaster in the making.” Graham said, “When it comes to Syria do not read the Obama playbook. This is the Obama playbook, 1 foot in, 1 foot out. This is a disaster in the making. All of his military advisors have said we need to leave troops in Syria to work with them, calm down the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdish fighters who have helped make sure that it does not fall back...

The Taylor Force Act, the name given to a piece of legislation that will cut financial aid to the PA unless it ends its payments to terrorists and their families, was passed by Congress and signed by US President Donald Trump, this past week. The legislation was first introduced to the United States House of Representatives, this past year, where it was approved. This past week, the US Senate voted to approve the bill and afterward the President signed the bill which thereby turned the bill into written law in the United States. The bill’s sponsor, US Senator Lindsey Graham...

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he thinks President Trump’s picks to lead the State Department and CIA will make it through the Senate, despite Sen. Rand Paul’s pledge to try and block the nominees. Mr. Graham said CIA Director Mike Pompeo will make a suitable replacement for Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, since he shares Mr. Trump’s world view — including a tough line against North Korea. “He will get confirmed,” Mr. Graham told CNN’s State of the Union. Mr. Paul, a libertarian-minded Republican from Kentucky, said he fears. Mr. Pompeo is a throwback to Republicans who...

Sen. Lindsey Graham called John Bolton's appointment Thursday as national security adviser by President Donald Trump "good news for America's allies and bad news for America's enemies." "He will do an outstanding job as President Trump's new national security adviser," the South Carolina Republican said in a statement. "He has a firm understanding of the threats we face from North Korea, Iran, and radical Islam."

Sen. Lindsey Graham gave a stern warning Sunday to President Donald Trump against firing special counsel Robert Mueller. "As I said in the past, if he tried to do that, that would be the beginning of the end of his presidency," the South Carolina Republican said on CNN's "State of the Union."

Amid recent chatter that Trump could fire special counsel Robert Mueller, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) both suggested Tuesday that if the president took that step, impeachment would be the appropriate response. Graham and Flake’s commitments to this position were hardly rock-solid and may well not be shared by very many other Republicans in the Senate (or the House of Representatives, which is where the impeachment process would have to begin). Still, the statements are a significant warning to Trump from two members of his own party about how Mueller’s dismissal could end for him. First, when...

In a lengthy letter to the inspector general of the Department of Justice (DOJ), two key senators demanded answers on whether anti-Trump dossier author Christopher Steele was ever paid by the Russian government or other Russian sources. The letter from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked Michael E. Horowitz, the DOJ inspector general, for answers to 31 sets of detailed questions related to DOJ’s handling of various Russia-related probes in 2016 and 2017. “What connections are there between Mr. Steele and the Russian government or Russian intelligence community?” the senators asked. “Has Mr. Steele ever been...

A plan of action for how a second special counsel can investigate the FBI and Justice Department is spelled out in a point-by-point letter submitted by two Republican senators. They specifically want to know whether former FBI Director James B. Comey lied to them and had a plan to double-cross President Trump. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina sent a letter last week to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. They and two other Republicans want a special counsel with the powers of the Trump-Russia probe’s Robert Mueller to investigate suspected Justice...

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday threatened to end Donald Trump’s presidency if U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is fired. Deep-State Lindsey was on Deep-State CNN on Sunday talking to Deep-State Jake Tapper. And talking like Deep Staters do. Talk tough but do very little.

The Drudge Report, the prolific news aggregation website ran by Matt Drudge, has a new poll that shows its audience favors firing special counsel Robert Mueller and the results are not even close. Currently, 266,943 voters support firing Robert Mueller where as 77,000 voters are against his firing. While the poll cannot be counted as a scientific poll of the general public, it is helpful in gauging where President Donald Trump's base and many conservatives stand on the issue.Drudge's polling in the past was an early indicator of who the GOP Presidential nominee was going to be. For example after a...

WASHINGTON – Bipartisan lawmakers sounded the alarm Sunday about President Trump’s mounting attacks on the Russia probe and issued a strong defense for special counsel Robert Mueller. “If the president reaches out and stops this investigation, that is a constitutional crisis in this country,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on “Fox News Sunday.” Trump’s lawyer John Dowd Saturday called for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to end the Mueller investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election and potential collusion with the Trump campaign. Trump followed up over the weekend by attacking Mueller by name on Twitter and questioning the...