Sen. Lindsey Graham says he was stating the obvious with Trump riots claim

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham connected Saturday defended suggesting determination would beryllium "riots successful the streets" if erstwhile President Donald Trump was prosecuted for mishandling classified information, saying helium condemned the unit seen during the Capitol riot past year.

"What I tried to bash was authorities the obvious," Graham, a South Carolina Republican and adjacent state of Trump, told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick astatine the Ambrosetti Forum successful Italy.

"Here's what I said, The raid connected [former] President Trump's home, the apt nominee for 2024, amended carnivore immoderate effect here," helium added. "If it's conscionable astir mishandling classified information, we've had a modular acceptable erstwhile it came to Hillary Clinton."

"Our country, the radical connected our side, judge that erstwhile it comes to the justness system, determination are nary rules regarding Trump, [it's a lawsuit of] 'get him, it doesn't substance however you get him,' truthful I said that if it's akin to what happened to Clinton and helium gets prosecuted, it'll beryllium 1 of the astir disruptive events successful America," Graham said.

Trump and his allies person argued that the FBI, which is investigating Trump for imaginable violations of laws related to espionage and obstruction of justice, is treating him otherwise than it treated Hillary Clinton, who was the taxable of an FBI probe into her usage of a backstage email server portion caput of state, but wasn't prosecuted. Trump's critics reason that the 2 cases aren't comparable.

Graham said helium rejected the unit seen connected the Jan.6 Capitol riot and said "all those radical who defiled the Capitol should spell to jail" but said that immoderate perceived unfairness toward Trump would person consequences.

"I don't privation to pardon the January 6th radical due to the fact that that seems to reenforce the communicative that this is OK. I said thing I truly judge — if helium does what she did with classified accusation and helium gets prosecuted and she didn't it would make a problem."

Graham said past week that determination would beryllium "riots successful the streets" if Trump was prosecuted for mishandling classified information.

"I'll accidental this, if there's a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information, aft the Clinton debacle … there'll beryllium riots successful the streets," Graham told Fox News' Trey Gowdy, a erstwhile Republican congressman.

Trump is presently nether probe and risks being indicted implicit his attraction of classified White House records that helium took to his residence successful Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

Last week, the merchandise of a heavy redacted affidavit showed however concerns astir amerciable enactment and obstruction of justness led to an FBI hunt astatine Trump's edifice successful July.

Graham conceded that helium believed successful "handling classified accusation responsibly" but again insisted that "mishandling classified accusation is truly atrocious but we can't person a strategy wherever 1 idiosyncratic gets prosecuted and the different doesn't."

Asked whether Trump is the champion idiosyncratic to correspond the Republican Party successful 2024, Graham said "I deliberation helium could be."

"Whether you similar Trump oregon not helium was a consequential president ... I deliberation a beardown American president, unpredictable, is simply a bully happening arsenic agelong arsenic you support it wrong the boundaries. His occupation is personal, his policies person stood the trial of clip but has helium worn the American radical retired successful presumption of his personality? Time volition tell. But I'll accidental this, aft the Biden presidency, if there's a argumentation statement successful 2024, I similar his chances. If it's a property contest, he'll beryllium successful trouble."

Graham said helium talks to Trump "all the time" and that the erstwhile president inactive thinks that helium was "cheated." Graham said helium voted to certify the 2020 predetermination and that Biden is the morganatic president.

Trump "genuinely believes that the strategy was rigged against him and I said 'Mr. President, I'm not trying to archer you to alteration your beliefs. I'm trying to archer you that you person nary accidental of winning successful 2020 but you person a beauteous bully accidental of winning successful 2024 if you privation to,'" Graham said, noting that helium told Trump that if helium does marque a comeback "it volition beryllium 1 of the top governmental comebacks successful American history."

A national justice connected Thursday denied Graham's latest effort to situation a subpoena for his grounds earlier a peculiar expansive assemblage successful Georgia, which is investigating imaginable transgression predetermination interference by Trump and his allies in 2020.

However, the justice constricted the scope of the subpoena by ordering that Graham could not beryllium questioned astir telephone calls helium made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his unit successful the weeks aft the November 2020 predetermination betwixt Trump and President Joe Biden.

It follows continued bids by Graham to debar testifying connected the grounds that his presumption arsenic a lawmaker grants him immunity nether the U.S. Constitution's "speech oregon debate" clause. 

Graham reiterated his presumption connected Saturday, saying "I didn't commencement this debate. You person a state authoritative who has decided to analyse a nationalist predetermination and to telephone anybody and everybody connected with the relation they played successful the election. I'm a United States Senator, successful our Constitution, we person a code oregon statement immunity clause truthful that we can't beryllium hauled into courts each implicit the state each clip we bash thing idiosyncratic doesn't like."

"I deliberation the tribunal is going to admit that my activities arsenic a United States Senator was covered by the code and statement clause that that the region prosecutor's tendency to bring maine down to Georgia oversteps the constitution."