GOP civil war erupts over Donald Trump Jr subpoena
As we all learned last week, Republican Senator Richard Burr issued a subpoena to Donald Trump Jr compelling him to give additional testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. As expected, all hell has broken loose. First, Rand Paul of Kentucky said the subpoena is a “real travesty of justice.” He went on to call the subpoena a “perjury trap.” Well, he got the “perjury” part right. Does he not know that perjury is a crime?
Between Paul and Mitch McConnell, there must be something really bad in the water in Kentucky. Next, Burr’s fellow North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis told USA Today that “it’s time to move on.” Finally, the biggest hypocrite in Washington, Lindsey Graham, appeared on Fox to give Junior a message, in essence, that he should break the law by refusing to appear.
Many may recall that Graham was one of the major cheerleaders during the impeachment of Bill Clinton. At that time, Graham stated: “To be a person of character, don’t put your legal and political interests ahead of the rule of law and common decency.” As is typical with Graham these days, he has completely forgotten everything he said. In 2016, Graham called Trump a “kook,” “crazy,” and “unfit for office.” Not even a year later, Graham said, “I’m concerned by the media’s attempt to label Trump as a kook or not fit to be President.” Huh? They got those words from you, dude.
Now, Graham is Trump’s best friend. What’s up with Lindsey anyway? Have aliens taken over his body? Someone must have some really good dirt on him. Let me make this easy for Graham, Rand, Tillis, and any other Republicans who don’t get why Burr subpoenaed Junior: He lied. They know it, and Burr knows it.
Both Graham and Rand falsely claim that the Mueller failed to prove “collusion” (which we know isn’t a legal term anyway), and that the ongoing investigations should end. Perhaps Mueller did not find enough to prove criminal conspiracy (the actual legal term), but he absolutely did find multiple instances of Trump’s attempted obstruction of justice. Since obstruction is a crime and Mueller specifically said Trump isn’t exonerated, Burr wants to get to the bottom of things before finally putting it to bed. If prison is good enough for Michael Cohen’s lies under oath, then it’s good enough for Junior’s lies under oath.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years