Graham Predicts ‘Riots in the Streets’ if Trump
Is Prosecuted
Senator Lindsey Graham drew a comparison between the
investigation of former President Donald J. Trump and a decision not to
prosecute Hillary Clinton over using a private server.
Jonathan
Weisman
By Jonathan
Weisman
Aug. 29,
2022
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/29/us/politics/lindsey-graham-trump-riots.html
Senator
Lindsey Graham’s prediction on Sunday that a prosecution of former President
Donald J. Trump would lead to “riots in the streets” added an element of menace
to the fraught decisions facing Justice Department officials as they consider
next steps in the investigation of Mr. Trump’s handling of classified material.
Mr. Graham,
a South Carolina Republican who moved from a fierce critic of Mr. Trump to a
loyal companion, appeared on Fox News, drawing a comparison between the
investigation of Mr. Trump and the Justice Department’s decision in 2016 not to
prosecute Hillary Clinton for using a private server for State Department
communications. In 2019, a State Department inquiry into the server concluded,
“There was no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of
classified information.”
“If they
try to prosecute President Trump for mishandling classified information after
Hillary Clinton set up a server in her basement, there literally will be riots
in the street. I worry about our country,” he said.
He also
said the intensifying investigation into the highly classified documents stored
at Mr. Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, contrasted with the hands-off attitude
that he said the Federal Bureau of Investigation had taken toward President
Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. The Justice Department has been weighing whether to
charge Hunter Biden over possible tax and foreign lobbying violations.
“I love the
law,” he said. “I’ve never been more worried about the law in politics as I am
right now.”
A spokesman
for Mr. Graham, Kevin Bishop, emphasized on Monday that the senator was making
a prediction, not a threat.
In
Charleston on Monday, Mr. Graham sought to clarify his remarks. He again raised
Ms. Clinton, saying, “America cannot live with this kind of double standard. I
thought what she did was bad, but she got a pass at the end of the day.” He
added, “I reject violence. I’m not calling for violence.” But, he said, “the
bottom line is there will be a lot of upset people” if Mr. Trump is charged.
Still,
raising the prospect of rioting came as Trump supporters’ threats against law
enforcement have crescendoed. One such supporter was killed earlier this month
when he tried to breach the F.B.I.’s office in Cincinnati. Threats have rained
down on the judge involved in approving the search warrant of Mar-a-Lago, Bruce
E. Reinhart. And the Justice Department warned last week that unless the
affidavit seeking the search warrant was heavily redacted, it, too, would
prompt violent threats or worse against cooperating witnesses.
And Mr.
Trump amplified Mr. Graham’s comments by posting them on his own social
network, Truth Social.
Jonathan
Weisman is a congressional correspondent, veteran Washington journalist and
author of the novel “No. 4 Imperial Lane” and the nonfiction book “(((Semitism))):
Being Jewish in America in the Age of Trump.” His career in journalism
stretches back 30 years. @jonathanweisman
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