Speaking to reporters at the Capitol Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) warned the President that his week-long public attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions is “not going over well in the Senate” nor the “conservative world.”
The senator said there would be “holy hell to pay” if Sessions is fired.
Graham suggested that if the attacks against Sessions are part of an effort to get rid of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the investigation into Russia meddling in the 2016 election, it could be the “end” of Donald Trump’s presidency.
“If Jeff Sessions is fired, there will be holy hell to pay. Any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency, unless Mueller did something wrong. Right now, I have no reason to believe that Mueller is compromised. If you have reason to believe he is compromised and shouldn’t be serving as special counsel, let me know,” he told reporters.
Graham also floated legislation that he’s planning to introduce next week that he think he can get “all Democrats and a good number of Republicans” onboard with that will say a special counsel can’t be fired when they’re asked to investigate the President and his team, unless there’s a “judicial review” of the firing.
“Not just for Trump, but for any future president. We need a check and balance here,” he said, adding he hopes the President will “calm down” on his attacks on Sessions.
Since last Wednesday, Trump has launched near-daily, public attacks on Sessions, from saying he wouldn’t have hired Sessions if he’d known he was going to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, to calling Sessions “beleaguered” and “weak” on Twitter.
“This is not a diversion. This is unnerving. It is unfair to Jeff Sessions. He’s a good man who deserves better,” Graham said. “Some of the suggestions the President is making go way beyond what is acceptable in a rule of law nation. I hope the President will get good counsel and advice and focus on what he got elected to, which is change the culture in Washington. This is not draining the swamp. What he’s interjecting is turning democracy upside down.”
Sen. Graham: I am 100% behind Sessions and if he is fired there will be “holy hell to pay”
https://t.co/tQIRuSPrLf— Meg Wagner (@megwagner) July 27, 2017
