Lindsey Graham vows to not watch ‘un-American’ Trump impeachment hearings

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is vowing to not watch the public impeachment hearings scheduled in the House on Wednesday, saying that he doesn’t want to legitimize what he views as an “un-American” process. 

“Why am I not going to watch this hearing tomorrow?” Graham, a vocal supporter of President Trump, said on Fox News while speaking with host Sean Hannity. “Because I think it is a threat to the presidency. I don’t want to legitimize it. It’s un-American. It denies the basics of due process.”

{mosads}The comments from Graham echo the stance many GOP senators have taken as House Democrats move forward with an investigation into Trump and his dealings with Ukraine. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters Tuesday that he would be paying attention to the Senate’s business instead of the impeachment hearings. 

“I’ve got other things to do,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said. “I think it’s a political sideshow, and I’ve got more important things to do.”

Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had previously said he wouldn’t watch the public impeachment hearings, calling the whole process a “sham.”

Speaking one night before the House’s impeachment inquiry entered its public phase, Graham repeatedly argued that the unfolding process was “un-American” because it was denying the president the opportunity to confront his accuser. 

“No American, including Donald Trump, should be accused of misdeeds without confronting their accuser, which is the whistleblower. And no American should be denied the ability to tell their side of the story by calling witnesses to explain their defense. That’s been denied to the president of the United States,” Graham said, asserting that this wouldn’t happen in any other civil case in the country. 

The South Carolina senator has also indicated that he won’t read transcripts of testimony from key witnesses in the probe. 

“I’ve written the whole process off. … I think this is a bunch of B.S.,” Graham said earlier this month when asked if he would read transcripts of testimony from U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine.

Sondland’s testimony included an acknowledgment that Trump tied military aid to Ukraine to Kyiv launching investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, Biden’s son Hunter and 2016 election interference. 

The House Intelligence Committee is set to hear public testimony from William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, and George Kent, deputy secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.