REPORTERS WERE ASKING HIM, LINDSEY GRAHAM, IS BECAUSE HE
LINDSEY GRAHAM HAD TAKEN A STAND
ON THIS ISSUE.
LINDSEY GRAHAM AND DEMOCRATIC
SENATOR DICK DURBIN THAT VERY
DAY HAD BEEN WORKING TOGETHER ON
AN AMENDMENT THAT WOULD HAVE
CONFRONTED THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE
ON WHY THAT AID WAS BEING HELD
UP.
UP. THE AMENDMENT ESSENTIALLY WOULD
HAVE FORCED THEIR HAND TO MAKE
THEM RELEASE IT.
SO LINDSEY GRAHAM WAS GETTING
ASKED ABOUT THE AID FINALLY
GETTING FREED UP BECAUSE LINDSEY
GRAHAM WAS A KEY PART OF THE
EFFORT TO FORCE THE AID OUT, TO
FORCE THE WHITE HOUSE TO DO THE
RIGHT THING, TO CONFRONT THE
WHITE HOUSE ON THIS HOLD THEY
HAD PUT ON UKRAINE’S AID AND TO
MAKE IT STOP.
REPUBLICAN SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY
OF LOUISIANA SUGGESTED TO CBS
NEWS THAT SAME DAY HE WOULD HAVE
BEEN WITH LINDSEY GRAHAM AND
DICK DURBIN ON THAT AS WELL,
TELLING CB SP-RBGS NEWS WHEN
THEY ASKED HIM ABOUT IT, QUOTE,
WE SUPPORT UKRAINE, PERIOD, END
OF DISCUSSION.
OF DISCUSSION. GOOD FOR YOU, SENATOR.
AND NONE OF THIS IS ALL THAT
LONG AGO.
LONG AGO. THIS IS ALL WITHIN THE LAST
FOUR, FIVE MONTHS.
IN WHICH ALL OF THESE
REPUBLICANS IN THE HOUSE AND THE
SENATE WERE SOMEWHAT HEROICALLY,
AT LEAST ERNESTLY AND
AGGRESSIVELY STANDING UP TO GET
IN THE WAY OF THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION MESSING WITH
UKRAINE.
UKRAINE. STANDING UP TO THE WHITE HOUSE
TO AGGRESSIVELY PUSH BACK ON
THIS MYSTERIOUS WHITE HOUSE
EFFORT TO TRY TO MESS WITH
UKRAINE, RIGHT.
UKRAINE, RIGHT. ALL THESE REPUBLICANS IN THE
HOUSE AND SENATE STANDING UP TO
PROTECT UKRAINE AGAINST THESE
WEIRD MACHINATIONS OF THE TRUMP
WHITE HOUSE THAT WERE AS YET
UNEXPLAINED.
UNEXPLAINED. STANDING UP FOR OUR NATIONAL
SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE, POINTING
OUT THAT OUR NATIONAL SUPPORT
FOR UKRAINE WAS UNDER GIRDED BY
A HUGE BIPARTISAN VOTE IN THE
UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO DIRECT
THAT AID TO THEM, WHICH HAD BEEN
SIGNED INTO LAW BY PRESIDENT
TRUMP AND, THEREFORE, SHOULDN’T
BE SCREWED UP BY ANYONE.
MAC THORNBERRY, MICHAEL McCAUL,
PAUL COOK, RON JOHNSON, ROB
PORTMAN, LINDSEY GRAHAM, JOHN
KENNEDY, JAMES ENHOFF, THEY
HONESTLY HAVE ALL BEEN IN THE
LEAD HERE.
LEAD HERE. THEY’VE AT LEAST BEEN WILLING TO
STAND UP ALONGSIDE DEMOCRATS TO
DO THE RIGHT THING HERE.
THEY HAVE ALL BEEN WHITE HAT
GOOD GUYS STANDING UP AGAINST
THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE AND
DEMANDING ANSWERS IN TERMS OF
THE MISTREATMENT AND THE MESSING
ABOUT OF OUR ALLY UKRAINE.
THEY HAVE ALL BEEN DOING THE
RIGHT THING HERE.
UNTIL VERY, VERY RECENTLY.
IT’S ONLY BEEN A FEW MONTHS
SINCE THEY ALL STOOD UP ON THIS
ISSUE TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
WE’VE GOT THE RECEIPTS.
I MEAN, WE’VE GOT THE DETAILS OF
IT.
IT. HAVE THEY SINCE LOST THEIR
CONVICTIONS ON THIS MATTER?
I MEAN, DOES IT TURN OUT THIS IS
SOMETHING THEY DON’T REALLY CARE
ABOUT?
ABOUT? THEY WERE FAKING CARING ABOUT IT
A FEW MONTHS AGO FOR SOME
REASON?
REASON? OR HAVE THEY ALL DECIDED IT’S
IMPORTANT TO SUPPORT UKRAINE,
BUT IT’S MORE IMPORTANT THE
PRESIDENT ANNOUNCE
PRESIDENT ANNOUNCE INVESTIGATIONS OF JOE BIDEN AND
IF THEY DON’T, WE CAN LET THAT
AID SLIDE.
AID SLIDE. IS THAT REALLY WHAT THEY THINK?
I DOUBT THAT ALL OF THOSE
REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE
AND MEMBERS OF THE SENATE HAVE
CHANGED THEIR MIND VERY MUCH ON
THE IMPORTANCE OF U.S. AID TO
UKRAINE.
UKRAINE. I DOUBT THAT ANY OF THEM FEEL
LESS STRONGLY ABOUT IT NOW.
BUT WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
AND WHERE ARE THEY GOING TO BE
IF THIS GOES FORWARD?
IMPEACHMENTS ARE UNPREDICTABLE
THINGS.
THINGS. WE MAY OR MAY NOT BE ABOUT TO
HEAD INTO THE WITNESS AND
EVIDENCE PORTION OF THIS TRIAL.
THAT ITSELF WILL BE
UNPREDICTABLE EVEN IN TERMS OF
THE PROCESS.
THE PROCESS. BE HUMBLE IN ANTICIPATING WHAT
MIGHT HAPPEN NEXT HERE.
THE FACTS ARE STILL COMING OUT.
JUST TONIGHT AS I SAT DOWN, I
WAS JUST HANDED THIS.
THIS IS MORE DOCUMENTS THAT ARE
PRIED LOOSE UNDER ANOTHER
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
LAWSUIT TONIGHT.
LAWSUIT TONIGHT. PRIED LOOSE FROM THE DEPARTMENT
OF ENERGY.
OF ENERGY. WE’RE JUST STARTING TO GO
THROUGH IT.
THROUGH IT. YET MORE DOCUMENTATION RELEASED
TONIGHT.
TONIGHT. BUT, YOU KNOW, AS THIS STORY
CONTINUES TO DEVELOP AND THE
SCANDAL CONTINUES TO BE EXPOSED,
AT THE HEART OF IT ALL ARE
INDIVIDUAL ELECTED OFFICIALS,
REPUBLICANS AMONG THEM, WHO KNOW
ABOUT AND CARE ABOUT AND HAVE
FOUGHT FOR THE REAL ISSUES AT
THE HEART OF THIS SCANDAL.
NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT
ANY INDIVIDUAL POLITICIAN IN
TERMS OF HOW THIS FITS INTO THE
REST OF THEIR POLITICS AND THE
REST OF THEIR BIOGRAPHY, THEY
ALL KNOW IN ALL LIKELIHOOD,
THEIR BEHAVIOR IN THIS
IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT DONALD
TRUMP IS GOING TO END UP IN THE
FIRST PARAGRAPH OF THEIR
OBITUARY SOME DAY WHEN THEY
FINALLY LEAVE THIS EARTH.
THEY ALL KNOW THAT.
AND THE HUMAN CONSCIENCE IS A
POWERFUL THING, AND I THINK WE
DO ALL KNOW THAT EVERY MEMBER OF
CONGRESS, EVERY SENATOR
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SCANDAL AND
WITH THIS IMPEACHMENT WILL ALL
WANT TO LOOK BACK AT THIS MOMENT
AS SOMETHING THEY GET TO BRAG