Lindsey Graham's late-stage evolution from Trump foe to Trump sycophant is well known. But David Corn is here to remind us of another important legacy: Graham's acrobatic flip-flop on the Trump-Russia scandal.
From David:
Eventually Graham got on board with Trump’s Russia denialism. He mounted a side investigation that focused not on Putin’s operation but on the FBI’s investigation of the Russian operation and the Steele dossier, the series of memos produced by a former British intelligence official that contained uncorroborated allegations of Trump-Russia collusion. Attacking the FBI probe and the Steele dossier—which was paid for by an opposition research firm retained by a lawyer working for the Clinton campaign—became the Republican’s main tactic to divert attention from Putin’s assault on the 2016 campaign and from Trump’s complicity (that is, his false insistence that there had been no Russian intervention).
This isn't just some minor detail. In fact, it is key to understanding what was most important to Graham: the influence gained by willfully serving a demagogue. It is how a man goes from calling Donald Trump a "race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot" to closely trailing God.
—Inae Oh
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