Sen. Lindsey Graham finally got the subpoena power he needed to start holding Obama officials to account for what they did to President Donald Trump.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to authorize Chairman Lindsey Graham to issue sweeping subpoenas as part of its investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.
In a 12-10 vote along party lines, the powers were granted and a new front in the battle between Trump and Obama officials opened.
The Washington Times reported: “I think we need to look long and hard at how the Mueller investigation got off the rails,” Graham said.
But the Dems accused Graham of reviving the Mueller probe in an attempt to influence voters’ views of the Obama administration, where presumed 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden served as Vice President.
“Never has a chairman devoted the full weight of this committee’s resources to pursue a wholly partisan investigation after being prompted by a presidential campaign,” said Patrick Leahy, Vermont Democrat.
The Dems also blasted Graham for reviving the Russia probe, saying the committee should be focused on police use of force and the aftermath of George Floyd’s death.
“Rather than do something about this crisis we are going to go over ground that has already been covered,” said Maize Hirono, Hawaii Democrat.
In a bid to upend the subpoena vote, Democrats sought to add a series of amendments to compel testimony and documents from President Trump’s allies.
Among the individuals who the Dems want to be subpoenaed are former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Rudy Giuliani and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
“We have given you opportunities and will continue to this morning to bring in relevant witnesses,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrat. “The fact that you are turning down every single relevant witness tells us and tells the world this is an irrelevant investigation.”
Lindsey Graham clapped back that Trump associates had already been heavily scrutinized during the Mueller probe.
“I don’t understand why you would want to do the Mueller investigation all over again after we’ve two-and-half years and $25 million dollars doing it,” Graham said. “I’m sorry it didn’t turn out the way people liked but it is behind us and how we are going to look at what happened and the misconduct involved and hold people accountable.”