Senator Lindsey Graham visited Fox News Wednesday night with the obvious intention of talking Donald Trump down from the ledge of firing special counsel Robert Mueller and firing him up to go kill people in Syria.
During an interview with Fox’s Martha MacCallum, Graham repeatedly offered messages that were bound to soothe Trump’s ego before getting to the sensitive topic of Mueller and the FBI raid this week of Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen.
First, Graham knocked former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired, as some kind of Clinton loyalist and Trump antagonist (never mind that FiveThirtyEight.com determined that Comey probably cost Clinton the election).
Then, after MacCallum brought up a bipartisan bill that would prevent Trump from firing Mueller, which Graham supports, Graham quickly said he’d like a special counsel to investigate the Department of Justice’s handling of the so-called Steele dossier as well as a special counsel to investigate FBI agent Peter Strzok and girlfriend Lisa Page, all Fox-Trumper targets.
That seemed to be an effort to pave the way for talking up the bill without Graham looking like he was anti-Trump.
GRAHAM: We want to make sure special counsels can do their job without political interference and all this bill says if a special counsel’s fired for cause – and that’s the only reason it can be fired – three judges will look at the facts to make sure it fits within the legal definition of “for cause,” then you move forward.
Graham said nothing about Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia investigation, even though a lower-third banner stated that Trump was thinking of firing him.
MacCallum moved on to ask about a report that the FBI raid on Cohen sought records related to the infamous Access Hollywood tape. “How would that fit into the parameters” of the investigation, MacCallum asked pointedly.
Again, Graham seemed to be trying to appease Trump. “I’m a hundred percent confident that they found something that reflects on Cohen, not Russia and Trump,” Graham said. He argued that Mueller never would have referred the case to a New York prosecutor if there was anything involving Trump and Russia.
At that point, MacCallum attempted to change the topic of discussion to Syria. But Graham interrupted her to make his plea to Trump directly.
GRAHAM: So, Mr. President, if you’re watching, I think you’re gonna be fine unless you screw this up. Let the process play out.
Graham once more assured the Viewer in Chief that they’re on the same side by saying the Steele dossier “screams for a special counsel.”
When the discussion turned to Syria, Graham spoke directly to Trump again.
GRAHAM: Mr. President, you said Assad would pay a big price. To me a big price means that he cannot do this again, ever. That he’ll never sleep well at night and his ability to wage war and kill children is coming to an end.
Watch Graham use Fox News as a vehicle for communicating to Trump above, from the April 11, 2018 The Story with Martha MacCallum.
Originally published at Newshounds.us
