Senate Judiciary Committee Leader Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) slammed House Democrats and the mainstream media on Wednesday for heightening suspicions of a quid pro quo between the White House and Ukraine, as House Democrats continue to release the testimonies of witnesses called in the impeachment inquiry.
On Tuesday, a revised testimony from U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland was released by House Democrats saying that Sondland believed a potential meeting between President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as the release of military aid to the country, was contingent on Ukraine’s announcing an anti-corruption probe into Burisma Holdings. The other testimony released Tuesday, that of Kurt Volker, former U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine, dismissed that claim.
Graham responded to the updates by saying he won’t read the House transcripts because “the whole process is a joke.”
“The whole idea that there’s a quid pro quo based on somebody changing their testimony — presuming there was, Volker said there was not. He’s the special envoy,” Graham said. “You just pick things you like, you all hate this guy, you want to get him impeached. I’m not buying into Schiff running a legitimate operation over there.”
Graham argued that the claim of quid pro quo often cited by Democrats lacks the fundamental understanding of Trump’s policy towards Ukraine.
“What I can tell you about the Trump policy toward the Ukraine, it was incoherent, it depends on who you talk to,” Graham said. “They seem to be incapable of forming a quid pro quo, so no, I find the whole process to be a sham, and I’m not going to legitimize it.”
The Senator also revealed that, after the Mueller Report, he is largely skeptical of accusations against the president, and is convinced that there is “a political vendetta” against Trump.