Trump Demands Lindsey Graham Haul Barack Obama Before Senate Judiciary Committee: ‘Just Do It’
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President Donald Trump is now demanding that his predecessor, former president Barack Obama, give testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on what he calls “the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR.”
On Thursday, Trump issued the following command to Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) via his Twitter account.
If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama. He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!
If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama. He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2020
Graham had this to say with regards to Trump’s tweet:
Asked Graham about this tweet just now. He reiterated that he’s not going to call in Obama.
“I don’t think now’s the time for me to do that. I don’t know if that’s even possible.”
He added:
“I understand President Trump’s frustration, but be careful what you wish for.” https://t.co/B5LVPcznJR
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) May 14, 2020
Trump’s tweet comes after he failed to explain what illegal activity occurred in the course of what he calls the “Obamagate” scandal in an interview with Fox Business. Nonetheless, the president doubled down on his claim that former administration officials were “caught” in light of the newly-revealed list of people who received the U.S. intelligence report on Michael Flynn’s unmasking.
The current president demanding an investigation of his predecessor is highly unusual, and as reporters pointed out, it’s highly unlikely Graham will obey.
GRAHAM told us last week that he didn’t envision calling Obama: https://t.co/UvsuGAV4De https://t.co/NxRIxBq81F
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 14, 2020
trump comes out in favor of investigating presidents when they leave office https://t.co/t5HyLyVy3n
— David Mack (@davidmackau) May 14, 2020
Think long and hard before setting this precedent. You’ll be next. https://t.co/AgCAuMwFc7
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) May 14, 2020
Every re-election is a referendum on the incumbent, but if the President would like to make this a national contest between him and Barack Obama, I think we should accommodate him. https://t.co/yFyFYNicL2
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 14, 2020
someone appears eager to change the subject. https://t.co/VOxdO3rgvm
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) May 14, 2020
It’s a typical strategy to link a relatively popular opponent (say, John McCain in 2008) to a far less popular leader in their party (George W. Bush)
Less typical is looking past an opponent of ambivalent popularity to take on his far more popular allyhttps://t.co/EG5gNgVsuM
— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) May 14, 2020
This post has been updated to include Graham’s response to Trump’s tweet.
