Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is defending his controversial prediction that former President Donald Trump being prosecuted over his handling of classified documents would spark "riots in the streets."
Graham who made the original comments during an appearance on Fox News's Sunday Night in America last weekend, told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick on Saturday that he was simply trying to "state the obvious" about the realistic consequences of the Justice Department bringing charges against the leader of the Republican Party. He rejected left-wing critics who argued he was advocating for GOP-led anarchy.
"What I tried to do was state the obvious," Graham told Sedgwick at the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy. "Here's what I said: The raid on President Trump's home, the likely nominee for 2024, better bear some fruit here. If it's just about mishandling classified information, we've had a standard set when it came to Hillary Clinton."
LINDSEY GRAHAM PREDICTS RIOTS IF TRUMP IS PROSECUTED OVER CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS
The South Carolina lawmaker then noted how his party's frustration had grown with the years of investigations into the former president, telling Sedgwick: "The people on our side believe that when it comes to the justice system, there are no rules regarding Trump, [it's a case of] 'get him, it doesn't matter how you get him.' So I said that if it's similar to what happened to Clinton and he gets prosecuted, it'll be one of the most disruptive events in America."
He condemned the violence that occurred on January 6 and said he opposed pardoning those involved as Trump has recently suggested. Still, he cautioned that perceptions of a double standard would spark a response from Republicans.
"All those people who defiled the Capitol should go to jail," Graham said, later adding, "I don't want to pardon the January 6th people because that seems to reinforce the narrative that this is okay. I said something I really believe - if he does what she did with classified information and he gets prosecuted and she didn't, it would create a problem."
Republicans have unified behind the former president in the wake of the unprecedented search of his Mar-a-Lago estate in early August by federal agents. The FBI seized dozens of boxes of containing classified documents during the raid that Trump had brought back with him to his Palm Beach, Fla., resort after leaving office. Federal authorities have defended the search as necessary to retrieve those materials for national security purposes.
Trump has not been charged related to the matter, though the DOJ's investigation into his handling of White House documents continues. He has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that the files he possessed were "all declassified."
Regardless of if the Justice Department brings charges, the incident has amplified long-held Republican concerns that the FBI treats Democratic political figures far better than Republicans.
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Trump-aligned GOP lawmakers have argued that the FBI has appeared to approach the Republican ex-president without the presumption of innocence granted to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, when she was investigated for her use of a private email server or Hunter Biden as he faces investigations into his business and tax dealings.
In his Fox News interview last weekend, Graham referenced Clinton directly, saying there is "no law" and a "double standard" when her email scandal is compared to Trump's documents.
"If there is a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling the classified information after the Clinton debacle, which you presided over and did [a] hell of a good job, there will be riots in the streets," Graham told host and former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), who was a leading GOP investigator of Clinton when he was in Congress.
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Tags: Lindsey Graham, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Mar-a-Lago, FBI
Original Author: Emily Jacobs
Original Location: Lindsey Graham defends predicting 'riots in the streets' over Trump prosecution