Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) doubled down on his defense of President Trump amid the ongoing impeachment inquiry, arguing there’s “nothing there” in the call between Trump and Ukrainian leaders to suggest the president did anything wrong.
“You make your mind up about the phone call. I made my mind up. There’s nothing there,” Graham said in an interview Saturday with KCCI, a Des Moines CBS affiliate.
{mosads}”I’m trying to let the House know, ‘You’re dividing America for no good reason.’ We got a lot of things we should be doing, like lowering drug costs and getting a trade deal with Canada and Mexico,” he added.
Graham has been one of Trump’s staunchest allies defending the president’s actions amid the impeachment inquiry.
He told CBS News last week he won’t read the transcripts released of witness depositions.
“I’ve written the whole process off,” he said.
Witnesses have testified that Trump directed Ukrainian leaders to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading 2020 presidential candidate, and have indicated that the Trump administration withheld aid in return for Ukraine’s announcing an investigation into Biden.
The White House released a memo of the July 25 call at the center of the inquiry, which Graham referred to in his interview, that shows Trump asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for “a favor” and later asking him to “look into” Biden.
Trump has said the call was “perfect” and most Republicans have stood by him in his defense.
House Democrats are starting public hearings as part of the impeachment inquiry next week, kicking off with two key witness testimonies on Wednesday and one on Friday.