Sen. Lindsey Graham ripped into House Democrats over impeachment proceedings, saying they are not giving President Trump due process.
“What’s happening in the House is basically un-American,” the South Carolina Republican said Tuesday on Fox News. “No American, including Donald Trump, should be accused of misdeeds without confronting their accuser, which is the whistleblower, and no American should be denied the ability to tell their side of the story by calling witnesses to explain their defense. That’s being denied the president of the United States.”
Graham went on to explain why he was not going to be watching the public impeachment hearings.
“So why am I not going to watch this hearing tomorrow? Because I think it is a threat to the presidency. I don’t want to legitimize it. It’s un-American. It denies the basics of due process,” he said.
The Senate Republican’s comments came on the eve of House Democrats holding public impeachment hearings. Democrats are looking to impeach the president on charges that he withheld military aid to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation into Joe Biden and his son.
Graham has been a staunch defender of Trump, saying impeachment would be “dead on arrival” if the process reaches the Senate. He said the whistleblower, who has been identified by some media outlets as CIA analyst Eric Ciaramella, would have to testify for proceedings to have any type of legitimacy.
On Tuesday, he also told the Associated Press the Democrats are running “bullshit” impeachment hearings, adding, “I’ll be doing something else.”
