Sen. Joe Manchin defended his vote to convict President Donald Trump on the two articles of impeachment.

Sen. Joe Manchin defended his vote to convict President Donald Trump on the two articles of impeachment.

       

Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham addressed the president directly Sunday as he pledged to carefully investigate Joe Biden’s son.

“If he's watching the show, here's what I would tell the president: I'm going to get to the bottom of the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] process, because it was an abuse of power at the Department of Justice and the FBI,” said the South Carolina Republican on CBS‘ “Face the Nation.“

He added: “We'll make sure Hunter Biden's conflict of interest is explored, because it's legitimate.”

Graham’s appearance on “Face the Nation” was preceded by a somewhat cryptic tweet from President Donald Trump.

“DeFace the Nation will tell @LindseyGrahamSC that he must start up Judiciary and not stop until the job is done. Clean up D.C. now, last chance!” Trump posted this morning as the show was starting.

“Here's what I want to tell the president: I'm not going to be the Republican Christopher Steele. So, Rudy Giuliani last night said he's got the goods on Hunter Biden,” Graham said Sunday. “I called the attorney general this morning, and Richard Burr, the chairman of the Intel Committee, and they told me take very cautiously anything coming out of the Ukraine against anybody.”

Steele was the author of a 2016 intelligence report about Trump that drew widespread condemnation from Republicans because it was based on what they claimed to be phony sources from the former Soviet Union. Republicans also claimed that the Steele report was the basis of Democratic investigations into Trump.

Graham advocated for caution on accepting any information from Ukraine — the country at the center of Democrats’ now-closed impeachment inquiry into the president.

“I'm saying that anybody who has any information coming from the Ukraine needs to turn it over to the intelligence community,” Graham told host Margaret Brennan.

“What I'm trying to say — to the president and anybody else — that the Russians are still up to it. Deterrence is not working. So let's look at Hunter Biden's conflict. Let's look at Joe Biden,” Graham added. "But when it comes to documents coming out of the Ukraine, the Republicans and Democrats, be very cautious. Turn anything you’ve got over to the Intel Committee."

Brennan also asked Graham what he thought about Trump’s Friday ouster of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and Gordon Sondland, former ambassador to the EU — both of whom testified in the House’s impeachment hearings.

“I think his reassignment was justified,” Graham said of Vindman. “I don't think he could be effective at the [National Security Council].”

It was a busy day for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, both of whom made the Sunday television rounds. One common question that came up was their opinions on the other's stance about billionaire donors.Sanders said the fact that Buttigieg accepts contributions from wealthy donors, especially those tied to the pharmaceutical industry, makes it tough to believe he'll stand up to "powerful entities and represent working people" if he's elected president. Sanders said he, on the other hand, can be trusted to take on the likes of Wall Street, insurance companies, and the fossil fuel industry.> Senator Bernie Sanders on big money, campaigns, and whether Buttigieg's donors will prevent him from effectively representing the American people. FNS FoxNews pic.twitter.com/posdKEREzw> > — FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) February 9, 2020Buttigieg said he's far from an "establishment powerhouse" and he's "never hesitated to stand up to industry," noting that as mayor, South Bend sued pharmaceutical companies over the opioid crisis. At the same time, he said he welcomes anyone who wants to contribute to his campaign and help defeat President Trump no matter their income-level.> .@PeteButtigieg on @BernieSanders' criticism of "billionaire" donor support: "If somebody is ready to help us put together the campaign that's going to defeat Donald Trump, then I welcome that support...no matter if they've got a lot of money or not" https://t.co/JtNKORMvEO pic.twitter.com/JpEbEhI0DC> > — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) February 9, 2020He also referred to Sanders' own income, quipping "Bernie's pretty rich and I would happily accept a contribution from him."More stories from theweek.com 5 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's impeachment acquittal For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic Vanguard is an anomaly in the investment world. Can it stay that way?

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has no issue with President Trump's decision to reassign Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council.Vindman complied with a congressional subpoena and provided damaging testimony against Trump during the House's impeachment inquiry last year. After Trump was acquitted in a Senate trial, the White House dismissed Vindman from his post in what many consider an attempt to exact revenge. Graham is not among them. During Sunday's edition of Face the Nation on CBS, he said he respects Vindman's military service, but he said he's learned over the last two years that the State Department, Justice Department, and U.S. intelligence agencies have a political agenda and take the "law into their hands" since Trump took office, which he aims to put a stop to.Graham said people in Vindman's chain of command were "suspicious" of his "political point of view," arguing it's possible he may have been the one to leak the contents of Trump's now-infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the whistleblower whose complaint sparked the impeachment saga. Host Margaret Brennan countered by saying National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien had previously told her he was "confident" no leaks came from within the council."Well, I am not," Graham said, bluntly. > .@LindseyGrahamSC on Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's ouster from the White House: "I think his reassignment was justified. I don't think he could be effective as the NSC." https://t.co/Bu1zxgliQV pic.twitter.com/p1wsI0Sojd> > -- Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) February 9, 2020More stories from theweek.com 5 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's impeachment acquittal For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic Every single film nominated for a 2020 Oscar, ranked

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) claimed on Sunday that Attorney General William Barr has now “created a process” for Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to feed him any dirt he’s dug up on former Vice President Joe Biden during his Ukrainian smear campaign.In the wake of President Donald Trump’s impeachment acquittal, the president has not only spiked the football but has also begun to exact retribution on those he feels are responsible for the investigation into the Ukraine scandal. Besides ousting impeachment witnesses from their government posts, Trump has publicly pressed Congress to probe Democrats and impeachment investigators.Appearing on Sunday’s Face the Nation, Graham claimed that what the president was really interested in was getting to the bottom of the FISA warrant system. At the same time, however, he said that information coming out of Ukraine should be looked at even if it should be taken “very cautiously.”GOP Base Is Hot to Probe Biden, Senate Republicans Not So Much“Here's what I want to tell the president: I’m not going to be the Republican Christopher Steele,” he stated. “So Rudy Giuliani last night said he’s got the goods on Hunter Biden. I called the attorney general this morning, and Richard Burr, the chairman of the [Senate] Intel Committee, and they told me to take very cautiously anything coming out of the Ukraine against anybody.”He went on to say that if Giuliani has any additional information out of Ukraine, he needs to turn it over to the Department of Justice.Host Margaret Brennan, meanwhile, wanted to know if the DOJ has been ordered to investigate Biden and his son Hunter. The president had been accused during his impeachment of withholding military aid to Ukraine in order to pressure them to open investigations into the Bidens.“No, the Department of Justice is receiving information coming out of Ukraine from Rudy,” Graham noted.“Already?” Brennan, taken aback, responded.“He told me that they had created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if it’s verified,” the South Carolina senator said. “Rudy Giuliani is a well-known man. He’s a crime fighter. He’s loyal to the president. He’s a good lawyer.”“What I’m trying to say to the president and anybody else, that the Russians are still up to it,” he continued. “Deterrence is not working, so let’s look at Hunter Biden’s conflict. Let’s look at Joe Biden.”Brennan went on to say that a channel being opened between Giuliani and Barr sounds a lot like a “taxpayer-funded research operation against Joe Biden,” adding that this would appear to be what was at the heart of the impeachment probe in the first place.“No, not at all,” Graham insisted. “There are plenty of people being contacted by folks from the Ukraine.”Later in the interview, when asked directly who is paying Giuliani to do his dirt-digging operation in Ukraine, Graham replied “I don’t know” and quickly changed the subject.Giuliani, meanwhile, appeared on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures to peddle more dirt on Biden, just days after The Daily Beast reported that the network’s own research team warned their colleagues not to trust Giuliani’s claims or “disinformation” on Ukraine. Throughout his Sunday interview with Trump-boosting host Maria Bartiromo, the former New York City mayor said Trump should “100 percent” investigate the former veep while claiming he has “smoking gun” evidence that the Biden family was “monetizing Joe’s public office.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Iowa might be knocked from its perch next election cycle.Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday the Democratic Party will have a "conversation" about Iowa's role as the first state to vote in the primaries going forward after the 2020 Democratic caucus turned chaotic, suggesting it may move down the lineup in the future.> .@jaketapper: “Is Iowa about to lose their first-in-the-nation caucus status?”> > DNC Chair Tom Perez: “Well, that's the conversation that will absolutely happen after this election cycle” https://t.co/KHdSVpS1Eh CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/xgaGtZlce7> > — State of the Union (@CNNSotu) February 9, 2020But Perez acknowledged there's not much he can do about the state's decision to hold a caucus instead of a primary. "One of the challenges and the reason we didn't do that in our most recent conversation about this is that you need to pass a state law to have a state-run primary," Perez said during his appearance on State of the Union. "There are some state that still have caucuses where I'm not sure the Republican governor would sign the law to have the election."More stories from theweek.com America's pig problem Vanguard is an anomaly in the investment world. Can it stay that way? 5 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's impeachment acquittal

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday defended President Trump's decision to oust Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from the White House National Security Council after serving as key impeachment witness.

"I think his reassignment was justified," Mr. Graham, South Carolina Republican, told CBS's Face the Nation. "I don't think he could be ...