Authoritarianism expert hints Lindsey Graham may be covering for Trump due to the 2016 Russian hacking of his own emails

Addressing the about-face Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has made -- going from Donald Trump critic to stalwart Trump defender -- authoritarian expert Sarah Kendzior suggested that the South Carolina Republican may be doing it involuntarily.

Appearing on MSNBC's AM Joy with guest host Jonathan Capehart, Kendzior was asked what she made of Graham who called for the Mueller investigation in the beginning but now wants it to abruptly end.

On Sunday, Graham appeared on Fox News Sunday where he said, "These [FBI] investigations against Trump were corrupt to the core. They gave Clinton a pass, and we need a special counsel to look at all things at the Department of Justice and FBI when it came to the Trump investigation, particularly the counterintelligence investigation."

"Lindsey Graham, talk about confusing, he confuses me," Capehart stated. "On some days he is 'the president must be held accountable,' and then here he seems to be carrying the president's water. Can you explain what he is doing?"

"I can offer some theories. Lindsey Graham was one of the people who called for the investigation of the Trump campaign's ties to the Kremlin," Kendzior began. "He did that all the way back in 2016 before Trump was inaugurated. He has then done a complete 180. He's been supporting Trump, he's been covering for Trump."

"There are a few things we should remember, " she advised. "The RNC was hacked; no one knows what happened to those emails. Lindsey Graham personally was hacked and nobody knows who has those emails. The RNC is complicit financially and politically and broadly in what the Trump campaign has done in terms of illicit interactions with Russia."

"We have tracked all of those financial ties and there's pretty good chance that either voluntarily or involuntarily Senator Graham has gotten mixed up in the situation and cannot be an objective observer," she explained. "I find that sad because in the past he has asked for a nonpartisan look at what Trump has done. He stood up against corruption and he should go back to that."

You can watch the video below via MSNBC: