Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke with Brian Kilmeade about the impact on his friendship with former Vice President Joe Biden by requesting documents related to contacts between Vice President Biden, his son Hunter Biden & Ukrainian President Poroshenko. Senator Graham believes Biden is a decent fellow but believes we cannot have a country where only republicans are investigated. Graham explained, “My friendship with Joe Biden, if it can’t withstand me doing my job, it’s not the friendship I thought we had.” Graham added, “I don’t remember Joe Biden being asked, ‘Well, you such good friends with John McCain. Why are you saying all these things about McCain’s candidacy for president?’ Nobody in their right mind would suggest that Joe Biden, because of his friendship with John McCain, could not make a case against John McCain being president and for Barack Obama. He did. He did it effectively. They tore the bark off John McCain.”
Graham also responded to Senator Chris Coons saying he is abandoning his friendship with Biden by doing ‘Trump’s dirty work’. Graham said, “Chris Coons is a friend. I’m disappointed in him. He wants to play the game where I work with him to make sure Trump gets investigated, but all of a sudden, when I ask questions …I mean, every American wants to know the answer to, all of a sudden I’m the bad guy? That’s not going to work with me.”
Watch here for the full interview:
Watch here:
Full transcript
Joe Biden:
We’re asking, Lindsey Graham. They have him under they’re thumb right now. They know he knows if he comes out against Trump, he’s got a real tough road for reelection. Number one, I am disappointed. And quite frankly, I’m angered by the fact he knows me. He knows my son. He knows there’s nothing to this. Lindsey is about to go down in a way that I think he’s going to regret his whole life.
Male Speaker:
What do you say to him?
Joe Biden:
I say — Lindsey, I just — I’m just embarrassed by what you’re doing. Are you? I mean, my Lord?
Brian Kilmeade:
My Lord. That’s how he ended it. And from the minute I saw that on another network, I wanted to find out what Senator Graham thought about that, who said in the past, “I like Joe Biden,” and more. But he’s going to investigate Hunter Biden, and he wants to investigate what was going on in the Ukraine in 2014 and 2016. Senator Graham, well, welcome back. What’s your response to that?
Lindsey Graham:
Well, number one, I do like Joe Biden. He’s — I’ve traveled the world with him. I like him, I think he’s a very decent fellow. He’s had a lot of tragedy in his life. But I’m not going to create a country where only Republicans get investigated. There’s a lot of corruption in the Ukraine. They’re an important ally. I thought Mueller would end this, but Adam Schiff is created a process in the house that’s un-American, dangerous to the Presidency. And we’re going to ask questions of Hunter Biden’s role and getting the prosecutor fired. He served on a company, Burisma, as a board member. He received $50,000 a month. For what? I don’t know. After the investigation of the company was opened by the prosecutor general’s office in the Ukraine. Hunter Biden called his friends in the State Department, Joe Biden called the president, the Ukraine, Persico , three times in10 days. Went to the Ukraine in March. The investigation began February the 4th. The prosecutor was fired.
I want to know the transcripts of the phone call between the Vice President and the President of the Ukraine. I want to know what Hunter Biden was doing talking to the State Department. His business partners and blue strategies also contacted at the State Department. The question is, did Hunter Biden use his political influence to stop the investigation of a gas company he was sitting on a as a board member? The president of Burisma was Zlochevsky, the former environmental minister in the Yanukovich administration, who was identified by the U.S. ambassador to the Ukraine in 2015 as being one of the most corrupt people in the Ukraine.
The question is, did one of the most corrupt people in the Ukraine hired Joe — Hunter Biden to be a board member on a gas company and Hunter Biden knows nothing about the gas business, as an insurance policy to protect his company in situations like this. I don’t know what happened. I do know this. We’re not going to allow the House to investigate Trump endlessly and not ask questions about all corruption in the Ukraine. Was there a corrupt motive behind Hunter Biden’s interference contacting of the State Department after the gas company was being investigated?
Nothing to do with friendship. When Joe Biden was the vice presidential nominee in 2008, he tore the bark off John McCain and Sarah Palin, nobody asked him, hey, will that hurt your friendship. It hurt my relationship because that’s the job he was assigned. My job is to make sure that people I represent in South Carolina, that their voice is heard. Nobody in the media really gives a damn that Hunter Biden was sitting on this board receiving $50,000 a month. Nobody in the media really gives a damn that Hunter Biden weighed in with the State Department after the company came under investigation. They tell me political fat looked at this. What a joke.
There has been no investigation regarding the role of the Vice President, Hunter Biden and getting the Ukrainian prosecutor fired after the investigation of Permisa — Burisma, whatever the name of the company is. I’m going to make sure that those questions are asked. And finally, why am I doing this? When House Republicans tried to ask these questions about the role of Hunter Biden in the investigation of the gas company, they were shut down. So, I’m going to ask. If it were up me, we would have ended this a long time ago on both sides.
Brian Kilmeade:
Senator, well said. You have some legitimate questions and you put your job over your friendship. So, he says that you’re being held hostage basically by Donald Trump, that if you go against Trump, you’re not going to get reelected. What’s your response to that?
Lindsey Graham:
It’s not going to work. It’s not going to work with me. I supported legislation which Chris Coons to make sure that Mueller could not be fired without cause. I didn’t think the President was going to fire Mueller, but he said some things that bothered me. I didn’t know what the Trump campaign did regarding Russia. I supported the idea that Mueller would be a fair guy to look. I trusted Mueller. He spent two years and $25 million. He found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. And he made no recommendations for prosecution based on obstruction of justice allegations. I thought that would end it.
What Schiff is doing is dangerous to the Presidency. He’s not allowing Republicans to call witnesses. The President’s counsel can’t participate in the Intel Committee hearings. You can’t ask any questions about whether or not Hunter Biden interfered in an investigation at the gas company where he received $50,000 a month as a board member. I want to know what Joe Biden asked of the Ukrainian government after the raid on Burisma. I hope there’s nothing there. Reveal the transcripts. Trump released the transcripts. All I’m asking is that somebody look at this line of inquiry. It does look very suspicious to me. The conflict of interest is obvious with Hunter Biden being on that board. So Checci was named the most corrupt person in the Ukraine by the U.S. ambassador in 2015. They hired Hunter Biden by 2014. Burmese — Burisma did. Was that an insurance policy to protect them against investigations? I don’t know. Blue Strategies weighed in with the State Department after the raid on the gas company. Who did they talk to and what did they ask? Hunter Biden’s business partner met directly with John Kerry. What was that all about? I don’t believe political factors is the end of the inquiry. Somebody needs to look at this. The House is not allowing these questions to be asked. I will make sure they’re asking the Senate.
Brian Kilmeade:
Well, we know this. He knows nothing about what he was doing over there, but he was golfing with Archer, his partner over there in the Hamptons.
Lindsey Graham:
When did he know it? What did he do? And he’s a friend. I mean, you know, it’s up to him if he wants the friendship to continue. I hope it will continue. But don’t expect me — you know, Chris Coons, I work with a lot. You know, I work with you to protect Mueller. You’re going to rally around Joe Biden’s campaign. I understand that politically. But I can promise you that when Joe Biden was doing his job as the Democratic nominee for vice president, going after McCain and Palin. Nobody ask him about is the friendship in question. So it is obvious to me that Hunter Biden did some things that need to be looked at to stop the investigation of a company. He was receiving $50,000 a month from in the Ukraine. And the president that company was one of the most corrupt people in the entire country, according to the U.S. government.
Brian Kilmeade:
So Joe Biden called out Lindsey Graham said basically he feels bad for many, is angered by his action. Lindsey Graham said —
Lindsey Graham:
Don’t feel bad about me. Don’t worry about me. I am fine, Joe. You’re a good man. You lived a very consequential life. You’re running for president. You’re sitting on the sidelines as the Democratic Party takes a sledgehammer to Trump and his family and his life in 2014. George can’t contact the Biden team to raise the conflict of interest his son had being on the board with a Burisma and they said nothing. They basically — Joe was grieving and I understand that. But the conflict —
Brian Kilmeade:
Senator, we actually pulled — I got his chair — two things, Chris Coons said this about you, I guess this is what you’re referring to. Delaware senator took Joe Biden’s spot when he went to become vice president. Senator Coons, Lindsey Graham is abandoning his friendship with Biden by doing Trump’s dirty work. Do you want to respond to that specifically?
Lindsey Graham:
Yeah. Chris, you’re a good man. I like working with you, but we’re not going to have it. We’re not going to play the game like you want to play. You asked me to join with you to protect Mueller from an investigation that I thought needed to be had. Now you’re shutting down legitimate questions about the role of Hunter Biden regarding a prosecution of a company he served on. You’re asking us to ignore an obvious conflict of interest. It’s not going to work that way.
My friendship with these people are not going to keep me from asking questions that somebody needs to ask. I represent the people of South Carolina. Every time I go out in the community, people wanting to know when we’re going to look at what happened with the. Here’s what the allegation basically is against the Bidens. Hunter Biden served on a board owned by the most corrupt person in the Ukraine receiving $50,000 a month. And he knows nothing about the gas business. And when the company was being investigated in the president’s house was being graded, Hunter Biden started calling the State Department. Joe Biden made three phone calls in 10 days to the president of the Ukraine, went over in March to meet with the president of Ukraine and they fired the guy investigating Hunter Biden’s company. We’re not going to give them a pass on this. They opened up this can of worms about corruption in the Ukraine. They’re alleging the president denied aid to the Ukraine cause he wanted the Bidens investigated a political opponent. There was a quid pro quo for it. I don’t see that. I don’t see that being proven.
Brian Kilmeade:
I want you to hear Lindsey Graham talk in July 2015 with The Huffington Post about Joe Biden.
Lindsey Graham:
I think in it, Meyer Joe Biden as a person. There’s probably you’ve got a problem that you need to do some self-evaluation. Because what’s not to like? I called them after Beau died and he basically said, well, Beau was my soul for a long time. He came to my ceremony. He said some of the most incredibly heartfelt things that anybody could ever say to me, and he is the nicest person that I’ve ever met in politics.
Male Speaker:
Is that right:
Lindsey Graham:
He is as good a man as God ever created. And we don’t agree on much.
Brian Kilmeade:
So that that’s what he was contrasting risk.
Lindsey Graham:
Yeah. So everything I said was about Joe Biden the first — I’ve traveled the world with him. He lost his son, Beau, who I knew. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to Hunger Biden. If I have I don’t remember it. The bottom line here is I’m the senator from South Carolina. I don’t remember Joe Biden being asked, why if you’re such good friends with John McCain, why are you saying all these things about McCain candidacy for president? Nobody in their right mind would suggest that Joe Biden, because of his friendship with John McCain, could not make a case against John McCain being president and for Barack Obama. He did. He did it effectively. They tore the bark off John McCain.
Now, here’s where I find myself. Your son is serving on a gas company in the Ukraine, making $50,000 a month. An obvious conflict of interest. That gas company gets investigated for corruption. Did your son weigh in and use his political influence to stop that investigation? President Trump wants to find out about corruption in the Ukraine. And if there’s nothing there. Fine. I hope there’s not. I want the transcripts of the phone calls between Biden and the president of the Ukraine. I want somebody other than political fact, look at whether or not Hunter Biden used his influence to stop the investigation of a company he receiving $50,000 a month compensation in the Ukraine based on the gas business, which you knew nothing about.
Brian Kilmeade:
Senator, are you acting as the chairman of Judiciary or are you doing President Trump’s dirty work or does the president intimidate you into doing what he wants you to do?
Lindsey Graham:
I’m doing this because somebody needs to do it. When I supported legislation to make sure Mueller could be fired, the Trump world didn’t like that much.
I was okay with what I did because I thought somebody outside of politics needs to look at the Trump campaign’s interaction with Russia, if any. There was one person that could clear Trump or find him guilty of wrongdoing. To me, that was Mueller. I supported that investigation and I was the hero of the town. Standing up for the rule of law. Good old, Lindsey. Now they’re playing on a friendship.
They’re trying to intimidate me from asking questions that somebody should ask. Ukraine is a corrupt country. I get that. Why Hunger Biden was on his board. I don’t know. If Joe Biden didn’t know, I find it hard to believe. What did he know and when did you know it? Did his son, Hunter Biden use his influence with the State Department in the Obama administration to call off the dogs investigating a company that he was serving on in the Ukraine? The president this company was known to be one of the most corrupt people in the country. Why were you on his board to begin if Joe Biden’s job was to clean up corrupt.
Brian Kilmeade:
There’s legitimate questions that nobody’s asking. They always press. They preface every question with there’s no corruption there. And then they go on and move on. So you’re asking those questions because you’re doing your job.
Lindsey Graham:
My friendship with Joe Biden, if they can’t withstand me doing my job is not the friendship I thought we had. Everything I said about him in 2015 is true. I admire him as a person. I think he’s always trying to do right by the country. I think that — I think he’s made a lot of bad policy choices. But as a person, I like him. He spoke at Senator Thurmond’s funeral. I have. I have stood up for him against allegations he was a racist. That’s absurd. But we’re not going to allow a system in America where only one side gets looked at. These are legitimate questions. What did Hunter Biden do in February the 4th? Brian, this is important. The prosecutor general announces an investigation of Burisma, the gas company. And that’s when Hunter Biden started contacting the State Department. And after that contact, Joe Biden made three phone calls in 10 days about the prosecutor. Now, I want to know what they were talking about.
Brian Kilmeade:
That’s it. Senator, you had to sit there for two days and take personal attacks from Joe Biden and all his supporters and you just sounded off. And I think you —
Lindsey Graham:
I’m disappointed in him. He wants to play the game where I work with him to make sure Trump gets investigated, but all of a sudden, when I ask questions that are just — a lot of Republicans want to know the answer to, I think every American will know the answer to, all that and the bad guy. That’s not going to work with me.
Brian Kilmeade:
Senator Graham, I get it. I agree. Thanks so much for using this vehicle to get your side of the story out. Back in a moment.
