Lindsey Graham's Trump Defense Blows Up After Transcript Shows Ukraine Extortion

[babylonsister]

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/11/lindsey-graham-s-trump-defense-blows-after

11/05/19
2:16pm
Lindsey Graham’s Trump Defense Blows Up After Transcript Shows Ukraine Extortion
After swearing yesterday that a failure to release Sondland's transcripts would be an abuse of power on the part of the house, Graham has nothing to say about the release of Sondland's transcript.
By David


Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) will likely have to abandon another line of defense in the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump after a transcript revealed additional evidence of a quid pro quo with Ukraine.

In a transcript released by the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland confirmed that Trump expected Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son in exchange for military aid and other favors.

“I now recall speaking individually with Mr. (Andriy) Yermak, where I said resumption of U.S. aid would likely not occur until Ukraine provided the public anti-corruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks,” Sondland told the committee, according to the transcript.

Sondland’s transcript is seen as the latest public evidence of a quid pro quo with Ukraine’s government.

In defending Trump just last month, Graham said that he was not compelled by evidence of a quid pro quo in the transcript of the U.S. president’s call with Ukraine’s president.

Speaking to Axios in October, Graham speculated about the type of evidence that was released today by the committee.

“Sure. I mean … show me something that … is a crime,” Graham said. “If you could show me that, you know, Trump actually was engaging in a quid pro quo, outside the phone call, that would be very disturbing.”

Graham had not reacted to Sondland’s revised testimony by the time of publication.

UPDATE:

Graham, who just yesterday complained that the full Sondland transcript had not been released and that a failure to do so was an abuse of power, now says he refuses to read any of the transcripts, dismissing them as "BS."

[uponit7771]

1. I pray someone shows clips of Grahamn hypocrisy all next year in his state

[Takket]

2. Whatever it is Graham is desperate to cover up must be MINDBLOWING

[blm]

4. That's my reaction, too

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

17. I don't know. Rs have long been astoundingly crooked, hypocritical, insincere grandstanders.

I'm not convinced there needs to be any kompromat for him to behave in such a craven manner. Probably he's got financial ties to Russia, but as so many Rs do, I don't think he really fears that coming out. I think he's happy to play the part for the sake of partisanship.

On the other hand, nothing would surprise me except for Rs to be proven innocent.

[gratuitous]

3. Movin' them goalposts as fast as he can

But luckily, being a Republican, Lindsey Graham doesn't have to worry about losing any credibility or access to the media. There's always an opening on the talk shows for Sen. Graham, no matter what. It's not like he characterized an incident as an "act of terror" instead of a "terrorist act," because that's fuckin' serious right there, man!

[Lindsay]

6. Tweet of the day from Aaron Rupar:

Link to tweet

for the twitter-deprived:

every time a new transcript drops a goalpost gets its wings

[ffr]

12. "every time a new transcript drops a goalpost gets its wings"

Doh!!!!

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

16. As much as I despise Trump calling the media the enemy of the people,

sometimes I think there's some truth in it, just from the opposite side. The myth of the "liberal media" is so easily disproved, yet they are cowed by those claims and bend over backwards to be "fair & balanced" even if it means letting Rs get away with murder.

[Qutzupalotl]

7. Or as Judd Legum puts it:

Link to tweet

The transcripts are being released and contain damning evidence of Trump's guilt so Lindsey Graham has decided to stop reading the transcripts.

[paleotn]

8. It's over, Lindsey. Just give up.

[yellowcanine]

9. Putin must have boy toy videos of Lindsey.

Or worse.

[Gore1FL]

15. It's gotta be worse.

Whatever it is, someone needs to make him understand that not only will it come out, but it will be printed in history books because his defense of Trump has made it a story. It's like the Barbra Streisand effect's cousin.

[Mr. Ected]

10. Covering up his whole party deceiving Americans to align with

Russian oligarchs under Putin's dominion.

[ffr]

11. Ostriches will forever be associated with heads-in-the-sand republicans.

[LiberalFighter]

13. It should be called what it is. It is bribery.

Impeachable Offenses

SECTION 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

[Moral Compass]

14. How can this man live with himself?

He is making such an ass of himself.

How can he keep going? The transcripts are all BS?

That’s now the non-argument. First the ad hominem attacks. The when that didn’t work attack the process because it was all supposedly secret even when there were plenty of Republicans on each of the committees.

Now when the process is going public and the transcripts
are available they are all bullshit.

That all ya got Lyndsey? Really?

What the fuck do people have on you? Does it involve young boys?

I mean, WTF?