Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made his name as a staunch defender of the rule of law in America. But on Sunday, he urged President Donald Trump’s eldest son to simply ignore the law instead.
Graham, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the suggestion in an interview on Fox News.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, adviser, and business partner, is a key figure in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s investigation into Russia inference in the 2016 elections. After the release of Robert Mueller’s report last month, Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), who chairs that committee, subpoenaed Trump Jr. to come and answer additional questions — a move that became public last week.
Burr’s decision has drawn criticism from some of his fellow Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump himself, who have repeatedly claimed — contrary to all available evidence — that the Mueller report completely exonerated Trump and resolved all outstanding questions about Russian meddling.
Rather than comply with the legally valid subpoena however, Graham urged Trump Jr. to simply break the law.
“If I were Donald Trump Jr.’s lawyer, I would tell him, you don’t need to go back into this environment anymore. You’ve been there for hours and hours and nothing being alleged here changes the outcome of the Mueller investigation. I would call it a day,” Graham said.
Graham made his name as a House impeachment manager in the 1999 trial of President Bill Clinton, urging his removal from office. To be a person of character, he told the Senate at the time, “Don’t put your legal and political interests ahead of the rule of law and common decency.”