Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) was among those taking notice of recent attempts by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to effectively stump for former President Donald Trump as the past White House occupant seeks another term as president and grapples with what are now four criminal cases.
Graham, like others, misrepresented the nature of Trump’s latest charges. The ex-president is accused of involvement in a criminal conspiracy that targeted the 2020 presidential election results from Georgia, and as part of that allegedly criminal conspiracy, the indictment outlines a series of what were termed overt acts in alleged furtherance of those aims. Graham simplistically characterized the nature of those alleged acts and directly connected the actions to the charges Trump is facing, leaving out the key clincher that the reason something like making a phone call or encouraging viewership of something specific is relevant is because of the context.
“Remember the Russian hoax and the Mueller investigation? Donald Trump is being charged with a criminal act for telling people to watch a network show about the election. If that becomes a crime Adam Schiff will be in jail for 1,000 years,” Graham wrote on X, the platform formerly called Twitter. It is not accurate to characterize Trump as being criminally charged “for telling people to watch a network show.”
In response, Schiff shared a screenshot of past news coverage of the South Carolina Senator having shared supportive words with the California Congressman after Schiff helped present Democrats’ first impeachment case against Trump in the Senate. “Well, @LindseyGrahamSC, I’m glad you’re keeping track of time so diligently (even if you misrepresent my point). If we’re counting years, it seems like you’ve been busy perfecting the art of selective memory,” Schiff said. The “selective memory” that Schiff alleged Graham to be displaying would have been applied to those past positive comments.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was also among those who represented the Georgia charges in overly simplistic terms. “Oh hi @Jim_Jordan, wanted to let you know that driving is illegal; if you are the getaway driver for a bank robbery,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) replied to the Ohioan. “Lighting a match is illegal; if you do it to set fire to a church. Buying fertilizer is illegal; if you plan to give it to a terrorist to make a bomb. Get it?”
Well, @LindseyGrahamSC, I’m glad you’re keeping track of time so diligently (even if you misrepresent my point).
If we’re counting years, it seems like you’ve been busy perfecting the art of selective memory. https://t.co/9fWHsMkXAh pic.twitter.com/txVL1DrNJ9
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) August 17, 2023
