Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina speaking at the Iowa Republican Party's 2015 Lincoln Dinner at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
On Saturday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) complained on Twitter that the whistleblower's account of President Donald Trump's call pressuring the Ukrainian president to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden shouldn't be usable in an impeachment inquiry, because the whistleblower hadn't seen or heard the behavior firsthand:
In America you can’t even get a parking ticket based on hearsay testimony. But you can impeach a president? I certainly hope not.— Lindsey Graham (@Lindsey Graham) 1569678003.0
Graham, himself an attorney, was promptly decimated by a number of commenters, including federal prosecutors, pointing out that there are in fact many cases in which hearsay evidence is admissible — including, most notably, Linda Tripp's testimony against President Bill Clinton in his own impeachment hearing, which then-Congressman Graham supported at the time:
@LindseyGrahamSC Is the phone call between Trump and Zelensky hearsay? (Hint: NO). Your desperation is showing @LindseyGrahamSC.— Elie Honig (@Elie Honig) 1569679843.0
@LindseyGrahamSC Also, the WB was a depository of information by concerned people working in this Administration th… https://t.co/WpDXqLmrs1— Mimi Rocah (@Mimi Rocah) 1569680155.0
@LindseyGrahamSC If this is the line of defense for impeachment, Pres. Trump is in deep, deep trouble. 1. Transcri… https://t.co/3okj097fb8— Ryan Goodman (@Ryan Goodman) 1569680215.0
Beyond the fact that Graham and the GOP had little trouble impeaching Clinton on Linda Tripp’s second-hand info, th… https://t.co/p4V4xrLBmH— Garrett M. Graff (@Garrett M. Graff) 1569679477.0
@LindseyGrahamSC You're not very good at remembering what you did as a Representative during Clinton's impeachment.… https://t.co/U0rObge4eR— JRehling (@JRehling) 1569684447.0
@LindseyGrahamSC No, I'm not going to link to the exceptions and exemptions to hearsay in the federal rules of evid… https://t.co/zwSORnjTFV— Pé (@Pé) 1569680371.0
@vermontgmg @AmandiOnAir The response from @Popehat to @LindseyGrahamSC is a thing of beauty and suitable for frami… https://t.co/tye8Av5DSx— Tom Nichols (@Tom Nichols) 1569682215.0
@andylassner @LindseyGrahamSC I originally thought it was a timeshare.— Dan Schwab (@Dan Schwab) 1569681582.0
@LindseyGrahamSC @harrisonjaime Lindsey Graham: “I think he’s a kook... I think he’s crazy.” https://t.co/TRmnoQMOJF https://t.co/8eS6FrkiRs— Kim Sherrell (@Kim Sherrell) 1569685469.0
