Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images US Sen. Lindsey Graham defended Saturday that there would be “riots in the streets” if former President Donald Trump was prosecuted for mishandling classified information, saying he condemned the violence seen during last year’s Capitol Hill riot. “What I tried to do was state the obvious,” Graham, a South Carolina Republican and close Trump ally, told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy. “That’s what I said, The Raid [former] The home of President Trump, the potential 2024 nominee, better bear fruit here,” he added. “If it’s just mismanagement of classified information, we had a model set when it came to Hillary Clinton.” “Our country, the people on our side, believe that when it comes to the justice system, there are no rules about Trump, [it’s a case of] ‘Get him, it doesn’t matter how you get him,’ so I said if it’s similar to what happened to Clinton and he’s prosecuted, it’s going to be one of the most disruptive events in America,” Graham said. Trump and his allies have argued that the FBI, which is investigating Trump for possible violations of laws related to espionage and obstruction of justice, is treating him differently than it treated Hillary Clinton, who was the subject of an investigation. FBI for using private email server while secretary of state, but not prosecuted. Trump’s critics argue that the two cases are not comparable. Graham said he decried the violence seen in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and said “all those people who desecrated the Capitol should go to jail,” but said any perceived wrongdoing to Trump would have consequences. “I don’t want to condone the people of January 6 because that seems to reinforce the narrative that this is okay. I said something that I really believe — if he does what he did with classified information and he gets prosecuted and he didn’t it would create a problem.” Graham said last week that there would be “riots in the streets” if Trump was prosecuted for mishandling classified information. “I will say this, if Donald Trump is prosecuted for mishandling classified information, after the Clinton debacle … there will be riots in the streets,” Graham told Fox News’ Trey Gowdy, a former Republican congressman.
Trump ‘was a successor president’
Trump is currently under investigation and at risk of indictment over his handling of classified White House files he moved to his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. Last week, the release of an affidavit showed that concerns about illegal activity and obstruction of justice led to an FBI search of Trump’s resort in July. Graham admitted that he believed in the “responsible handling of classified information” but still insisted that “the mishandling of classified information is very bad, but we cannot have a system where one person is prosecuted and the other is not.” Asked if Trump is the best person to represent the Republican Party in 2024, Graham said “I think he could be.” “Whether you like Trump or not, he’s been a consistent president… I think a strong American president, unpredictable, is good, as long as you keep him within bounds. His problem is personal, his policies have stood the test of time , but has he worn down the American people on his personality? Time will tell. But I will say this, after a Biden presidency, if there is a policy debate in 2024, I like his chances. If it’s a personality contest, he will have trouble”. Graham said he talks to Trump “all the time” and that the former president still believes he was “cheated.” Graham said he voted to certify the 2020 election and that Biden is the rightful president. Trump “honestly believes the system is stacked against him, and I said, ‘Mr. President, I’m not trying to tell you to change your beliefs. I’m trying to tell you that you have no chance of winning in 2020, but you have a very good chance of winning in 2024 if you want to,” Graham said, noting that he told Trump that if he makes a comeback “it will be one of the greatest political comebacks in American history.”
Speech and Debate Clause
A federal judge on Thursday denied Graham’s latest attempt to challenge a subpoena for his testimony before a Georgia grand jury investigating possible criminal interference in the 2020 election by Trump and his allies. But the judge limited the scope of the subpoena by ordering that Graham could not be questioned about phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff in the weeks after the November 2020 election between Trump and President Joe Biden. After Graham’s repeated attempts to avoid testifying on the grounds that his position as a congressman gives him immunity under the “speech or debate” clause of the US Constitution. Graham reiterated his position on Saturday, saying “I did not start this debate. You have an attorney general who has decided to investigate a national election and subpoena anyone and everyone associated with the role they played in the election. I am a United States Senator, in In our constitution, we have a speech or debate immunity clause so that we can’t be taken to court across the country every time we do something that somebody doesn’t like.” “I believe the court will recognize that my activities as a United States senator were covered by the speech and debate clause that the county attorney’s desire to bring me down to Georgia exceeds the constitution.”
