Free Republic

Link “Somebody is lying !!!”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Friday that he “doesn’t give a shit” about critics who don't like him working with President Trump. “If you don’t like me working with President Trump to make the world a better place, I don’t give a shit,” Graham told CNN’s “At This Hour.” Graham, who unsuccessfully ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016 and blasted Trump throughout the primary, said he trusts and likes the president. “I’ve got a relationship with the president at a time when he needs allies,” Graham said. The South Carolina senator has praised Trump for conducting missile strikes...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Monday blasted Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) for drafting an authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) in North Korea should President Trump’s forthcoming meeting with Kim Jong Un go south. “Lindsey Graham is a danger to the country by even proposing ideas like authorizing war with Korea,” Paul said on CNN. “So that should be something that is seen as naive and seen as something that really serious people shouldn’t even be discussing,” he added.

And what would a good deal look like? I want to tell you this. Seven Democratic senators, Senator Schumer led the effort, wrote a letter to President Trump, I have it right here. In this letter, they lay out what a good deal would look like. Give up your nuclear weapons, give up your enrichment program, dismantle your missile capability, anytime anywhere inspections any place in North Korea verifiable. I embrace that letter as a good deal. Now here's my challenge. Telling the president the United States what a good deal were built like is very good but you got...

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday urged Democrats to sign onto an authorization to use military force against North Korea as a precautionary measure in case Pyongyang and Washington fail to reach a diplomatic agreement during next week's summit in Singapore. On ABC's "This Week," Graham asked his Democratic colleagues, "If diplomacy fails, will you support my efforts to authorize the use of military force as a last resort to convince North Korea and China that things are going to be different this time?" Graham made the remarks after saying he agreed with Democrats' demands in letter to...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) took a jab at Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday, saying he was "not so sure" about McCain's remarks on Saturday that a majority of Americans favor free trade. "I'm not so sure John's right about where America is on trade," Graham told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week." "The [Sen.] Bernie Sanders [I-Vt.] element of the Democratic Party doesn't stand for free trade. Hillary Clinton said she would get out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership if she had become president. There is a movement in our party that Trump's seized that got him the nomination, and...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican has urged the White House to speak out against an aide who mocked Senator John McCain’s brain cancer during an internal meeting, but stopped short of calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to apologize. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close friend of McCain, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” program in an interview to be aired on Sunday that he was not satisfied with the White House’s response to the controversy surrounding Kelly Sadler, a communications aid. “It’s (a) pretty disgusting thing to say, if it was a joke, it was a terrible...

WASHINGTON — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is among a handful of Republican senators expected to attend the controversial opening of the new American Embassy in Jerusalem on Monday, his office has confirmed. The trip comes roughly five months after President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced plans to relocate the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv. Cruz, who has long called for such a move, praised the decision as “courageous and heroic.” But many Arab and European leaders slammed Trump for upending a decades-old foreign policy in which U.S. presidents declined to weigh in...

Sen. Lindsey Graham would like to see the White House apologize for a "disgusting" joke that was made about the health of his friend, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who is battling brain cancer. Last week, a White House press aide, Kelly Sadler, joked to colleagues during a closed-door meeting mocked McCain’s health after he called for his Senate colleagues to reject Gina Haspel’s nomination for CIA director. “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway,” Sadler said. Graham, R-S.C., said if this was in fact a joke, "it was a terrible joke." "I just wish somebody from the White House would tell...

Telling Russia special counsel Robert Mueller to wrap up his investigation is not up to Vice President Mike Pence, says Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "That's not Vice President Pence's decision to make," Graham told CNN on Thursday. "I'm sure Mr. Mueller will wrap it up when it gets time to wrap it up." Earlier in the day, Pence told NBC that a year into Mueller's inquiry, during which the administration has provided more than 1 million documents, it would be "in the interest of the country I think it’s time to wrap it up." “And I would very respectfully encourage...

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...