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Lindsey Graham Breaks With Trump Over ‘Jail’ For Jan. 6 Committee Members

By POLITICS

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) defended members of the highly controversial House January 6 Committee, asserting that he does not believe they should face prosecution during an appearance on Meet The Press. Graham was initially asked about his stance on supporting Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense. While Graham has made vague comments regarding Hegseth’s nomination, he previously stated that unverified allegations should be taken “seriously.”

Sources close to the Trump transition team told The Federalist that the senator also reached out to the president-elect multiple times, urging him to reconsider Hegseth’s nomination. After weeks of controversy and considerable backlash from Trump’s base, Graham seemed more open to supporting Hegseth during his discussion with Meet The Press host, Kirsten Welker. “Yeah, I’m in a good place with Pete unless something I don’t know about comes out. These allegations are disturbing, but they’re anonymous. I asked him point blank, ‘Were you drunk in a bar and got up and said, let’s kill all the Muslims?’ He said ‘no,’” Graham said, adding that the sexual assault allegation was found to be without merit upon investigation.



“But about mismanagement of money, about, you know, having a drinking problem and saying inappropriate things. All of these are anonymous allegations. He’s given me his side of the story. It makes sense to me. I believe him. Unless somebody’s willing to come forward, I think he’s going to get through,” he continued, comparing the current unsubstantiated allegations against Hegseth to those levied against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings.

Welker wrapped up the segment with a “lightning round,” where she posed several quick questions to the senator. One of her questions was, “President-elect Trump told me he thinks the members of the January 6th committee should go to jail. Do you agree with that statement?” Graham responded immediately, saying, “No.”

During his own interview on Meet The Press earlier this month, Trump called for the prosecution of every member of the House January 6 Committee, highlighting that the committee was formed in a manner that defied decades of House precedent established by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Additionally, Trump told host Welker that he intends to honor his commitment to pardon the January 6 protesters on his first day in office.

“I want to look at everything. We’re going to look at individual cases, but I’m going to be acting very quickly,” Trump said, adding that the process will begin as soon as he is inaugurated on January 20. “Yeah, I’m looking for these pardons. These people have been there. How long is it? Three or four years? You know, by the way, they’ve been in there for years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open.”

“And [former Rep. Liz] Cheney [R-Wyoming] was behind it, and so was [Rep.] Benny Thompson [D-MS] and everybody on that committee. We’re going to… For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail,” Trump said. “They should go to jail?” Welker then followed up. “I think everybody on the committee, anybody that voted in favor,” the president-elect responded. The committee broke decades of congressional tradition when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) denied then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) the authority to appoint Republican members. Typically, congressional committees—excluding the January 6 committee—allow the opposition party to select its own members.

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Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.