Lindsey Graham Hit With Embarrassing Epstein Fact-Check on Live TV
Speaking with NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham tripped up a supposedly 'new' development in the Russian collusion investigation, suggesting that more evidence had emerged tying former President Barack Obama to the nearly 10-year-old national security scandal.
Amid rising intraparty tensions over Trump's apparent ties to pedophilic sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, the president wildly suggested last week that Obama had interfered with the results of the Trump-Russia investigation, claiming that it was actually Hillary Clinton who received aid from the foreign power. But Graham carried the torch over the weekend, reiterating the president's theory on air while claiming that National Security Director Tulsi Gabbard recently found that Obama had forced investigators to 'keep looking' after initial findings had pointed to no collusion.
'I think somebody needs to look at what we found,' Graham said. 'So what we're looking at is what role did Obama play in 2016 that changed the narrative that resulted in 2017? I'm not alleging he committed treason, but I am saying that it bothers me, it's disturbing.'
But then host Kristen Welker played back a montage of Graham's previous comments, proving that Graham originally agreed with the findings of the intelligence community—long before Trump tried to opportunistically rewrite history.
'Senator, are you now saying that you don't believe Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 election?' Welker pressed.
Apparently getting frustrated, Graham again stressed that new evidence had emerged that changed his opinion.
'Hold on, Senator, as you know, former President Obama has weighed in through a spokesperson,' Welker interrupted. 'He says that's just patently false. I actually spoke to Susan Miller, who's a former senior CIA officer who helped oversee the 2017 intelligence assessment on Russian interference. She says it's completely false that Obama or anyone else asked them to change or sway their investigation. She says, and she's a Republican, that they all would have quit if that happened.'
And then Welker asked the million-dollar question: 'Senator, are you trying to rewrite history to distract from the Epstein matter, Senator?'
'I'm trying to let you know, and the media know, that we found something we didn't know before,' Graham insisted, continuing to defend Trump. 'At the end of the day, I'm not calling for a prosecution against President Obama for treason, but I am calling for an investigation.
'The only people colluding with the Russians were the Hillary Clinton campaign,' Graham continued.
But Welker wasn't having it.
'Senator, you're saying there's something new,' Welker replied. 'This report goes back to 2020. It's five years old. There's actually nothing new in this report and nothing that changes any conclusion.'
'Whatever,' Graham responded.
The Mueller report was published in 2019. The 22-month investigation found that Russia did interfere with the 2016 election, but did not find sufficient evidence to prove that the 2016 Trump campaign had coordinated with Russia to undermine the election results. The report did not take a clear stance on whether Trump had obstructed justice.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sen. Alex Padilla says Texas Republicans are trying to ‘rig the system' with redistricting plan
In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) says California should look at "options" to counter an effort by Texas Republicans that would add up to five GOP seats in the state.
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's ‘Buy 3, Not 30' Comment Is Actually Smart Budgeting Advice — Here's Why
In May of this year, as President Donald Trump was rolling out his controversial tariff policies against America's trade partners, he received a great deal of criticism from economists and consumers alike over fears his tariffs would drastically increase prices of goods (especially those imported from China). Critics of Trump's trade policy even noted that children's toys and dolls would increase in price. The president's response was, to put it fairly, typically blunt. Check Out: For You: 'I don't think that a beautiful baby girl needs — that's 11 years old — needs to have 30 dolls,' Trump declared on the May 4 episode of NBC's Meet the Press, noting that if dolls become more expensive, simply buy less dolls. 'I think they can have three dolls or four dolls because what we were doing with China was just unbelievable. We had a trade deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars with China…I'm just saying they don't need to have 30 dolls. They can have three. They don't need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.' While there is an irony to a billionaire — one famous for his lavish wealth and a penchant for 24-carat gold decor — suggesting working-class Americans should refrain from buying multiple toys for their children, and should instead purchase such things in moderation, there is a sound objective truth to Trump's statement. Americans Spend Nearly $6,000 on Children's Toys Over a Lifetime Per The Guardian, the average American family spends $600 yearly on toys; that's approximately $6,000 over the course of a decade of childhood. That's $6,000 not being spent on medical care, college savings or family bills. That's a staggering amount of money for toys, and likely far too many for a child to focus upon and totally enjoy. That isn't a political stance, either — whether one loves or hates President Trump, the assertion that a child can enjoy three dolls rather than 30 is not only likely true, it's sound financial advice. I Asked ChatGPT To Explain TRUMP Crypto to Me Like I'm 12: As self-made millionaire and CEO of Crush Your Money Goals Bernadette Joy wrote for CNBC, when she was previously $300,000 in debt, her problem was not that she didn't make enough money — it was that she overspent on things that were not needed. She specifically called out children's toys as one of the six things she spent far too much on. 'I've seen parents spend hundreds, sometimes thousands, on toys that their kids lose interest in within weeks,' she noted. 'Less is more. Rotate toys instead of buying new ones, and prioritize experiences over stuff.' While, yes, Trump is a deeply divisive figure, and his advice for moderation with regards to spending should be taken with a grain of salt, his advice in this case actually does align with the recommendations of money experts such as Joy. Further, at a time when inflation is high, and America's economic stability is uncertain, spending in moderation is always good advice. More From GOBankingRates Mark Cuban Says Trump's Executive Order To Lower Medication Costs Has a 'Real Shot' -- Here's Why This article originally appeared on Trump's 'Buy 3, Not 30' Comment Is Actually Smart Budgeting Advice — Here's Why
The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Hassett says market won't influence Trump tariffs: ‘These are the final deals'
National Economic Council (NEC) Director Kevin Hassett said on Sunday that a market reaction to President Trump's tariff policies will not deter him from proceeding with his plans to levy fees on imports. In an interview on NBC News's 'Meet the Press,' Kristen Welker asked the White House economic adviser whether Trump could change the tariff rates again, if the market reacted as it did in April, when the tariff announcement sent stocks tumbling. 'The markets have seen what we're doing and celebrated them, so I don't see how that would happen,' Hassett responded when asked about a future change to the tariff rates. Welker pressed Hassett: 'Okay, but not ruling it out?' 'No, I would rule it out,' Hassett responded. 'Because these are the final deals.' Trump signed an executive order Thursday that modified tariff rates for dozens of countries after he had twice delayed plans to implement 'reciprocal' tariffs on other nations. Tariff rates range from as high as 41 percent on goods from Syria to as low as 10 percent, the baseline established for all imports. The executive order states that all imports will face a 10 percent tariff. The order goes into effect Aug. 7. Some nations have negotiated separate trade agreements to lock in tariff rates. For example, Indonesia and Thailand agreed to a 19 percent tariff, South Korea and Japan negotiated deals that included a 15 percent tariff, and the United Kingdom struck a deal for a 10 percent tariff. Certain other nations that have not negotiated deals will face higher rates. Hassett touted the tariff deals that the president has struck and said those rates are 'more or less locked in' as other countries might continue to press for negotiations, even after the tariffs kick in. 'We have eight deals that cover about 55 percent of world GDP with our biggest trading partners, the EU and Japan, Korea and so on,' Hassett said. 'I expect that those matters are more or less locked in, although there will have to be some dancing around the edges about exactly what we mean when we do this or that. 'For the deals that aren't ready yet, they're going to get the reciprocal rates soon, and then we would expect that there might continue to be negotiations with those countries,' he added.
