Tag: lindsey graham

Senators Talk Digital Freedom for Iran While Expanding Surveillance at Home

Three US senators want federal funding to help Iranians bypass censorship and access VPNs. The same three senators have spent years supporting the surveillance systems that track Americans online.

We obtained a copy of their letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio for you here.

Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), James Lankford (R-OK), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) are backing funding for anti-censorship technology and virtual private networks abroad.

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), whose privacy record is largely clean, is also supporting the effort. The bipartisan coalition wants to help people circumvent government internet controls. Just not the American government’s internet controls.

Graham’s voting record reads like a blueprint for the surveillance state he claims to oppose overseas. He voted for the Patriot Act in 2001 and has supported every major expansion since. When Section 702 of FISA came up for reauthorization, Graham backed it. When Congress considered making Section 702 permanent in 2017 with no sunset clauses and no congressional review, Graham backed that too.

His encryption stance is just as consistent. Graham co-sponsored the EARN IT Act in 2020, which would pressure platforms to weaken encryption to avoid liability.

He also backed the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data (LAED) Act, a bill that would require companies to build backdoors into their security systems. VPNs work because of encryption. Graham has spent years trying to break it.

He’s also pushed to repeal Section 230 protections and supported requiring government licenses for companies offering AI tools. When surveillance mechanisms he championed caught his own communications, Graham complained. Privacy for senators. Mass surveillance for everyone else.

Lankford introduced the Free Speech Fairness Act, which removed restrictions on political speech by religious and nonprofit organizations. That same senator has backed the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which will likely require platforms to implement age verification and give regulators the power to pressure companies into removing content.

He called for Section 230 to be “ripped up” and backed a national strategy against antisemitism that includes government coordination on speech. When Edward Snowden revealed the scope of NSA surveillance, Lankford branded him a traitor for telling the public what their government was doing.

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US Lawmakers Shmooze with Zelensky at Munich Security Conference – After Voting for Partial Shutdown of DHS at Home

Democrats voted this past week for a partial shutdown of government. The open-borders party refused to fund DHS. After the announcement was made several of these lawmakers, Republican and Democrat, took a plane to the annual Munich Security Conference.

So, the lawmakers can’t agree to fund DHS and our borders, but they had time to travel to Munich for the annual security conference.

If these men and women really wanted security they would have funded our Department of Homeland Security.

During their trip to Munich several US politicians met with Volodymyr Zelensky. He attended the conference to beg for more cash to fight his losing war against Russia.

Of course, Lindsey Graham was right in the mix. There’s no way he was going to miss out on some good war talk.

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Lindsey Graham Falls Prey to the Surveillance Monster He Championed

Some people find religion after a brush with mortality. Lindsey Graham found the Fourth Amendment after a brush with Jack Smith.

The senator from South Carolina has spent the past two decades helping build the modern surveillance state, and now he’s furious that it turned its cold electronic eye on him.

Federal prosecutors secretly subpoenaed his phone records without his knowledge as part of Special Counsel Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s alleged role in the events of January 6.

Graham says it’s an outrage, a scandal. He’s demanding the impeachment of the federal judge who approved it and threatening to sue someone, though he hasn’t worked out who, for “tens of millions of dollars.”

It’s the kind of melodrama that comes easily to a man who’s never been shy about using the power of the state when it suits him.

This story started last month when FBI Director Kash Patel revealed that phone records of eight Republican senators, including Graham’s, were pulled as part of Smith’s “Arctic Frost” probe.

The data covered January 4 to 7, 2021, and came with gag orders preventing telecom companies from telling the targets they were under the microscope.

“They spied on my phone records as a senator and a private citizen,” Graham complained on Fox News. “I’m sick of it.”

He’s not wrong to be angry. But there’s something deeply comic about Graham discovering his inner civil libertarian only after the dragnet landed on his number.

Graham has been one of the most reliable defenders of the surveillance architecture that is now bothering him.

In 2001, as a House member, he voted for the Patriot Act, the law that kicked open the door for mass data collection. When Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA was collecting Americans’ phone records by the millions, Graham didn’t seem alarmed.

“I’m a Verizon customer. It doesn’t bother me one bit for the NSA to have my phone number,” he famously said. “I’m glad the NSA is trying to find out what the terrorists are up to overseas and in our country.”

He later voted to codify those surveillance powers into Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 2008 and backed every major reauthorization since.

For most of his career, Graham treated Section 702 like a sacred text.

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Senator Graham Calls For Disarming Hezbollah By Military Force

Hawkish Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said “it’s time for Hezbollah to go” – and he’s willing to use military force to do it.

“They are trained by Iran, they are loyal to Iran, and we’re looking for military power in Lebanon to be loyal to the Lebanese people and a good partner to the region,” Graham, who is the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said at a press conference in Tel Aviv. 

He made the comments soon after meeting with both Lebanese and Israeli officials. The Trump administration has been heavily pressuring the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, even after it was greatly weakened after Israel took out its top leadership, including the slain longtime Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, last year.

Graham declared: “If we cannot reach a peaceful disarmament solution for Hezbollah, then we need to look at Plan B. Plan B is disarming Hezbollah by military force.”

“Also, there is a decision made to eliminate UNIFIL as a U.N. peace keeping organization in the next 15 months. Now that presents an opportunity for the Lebanese Armed Forces to replace a very ineffective UNIFIL and prove to not only the Lebanese people, but Israel and others, that Lebanon has a capability it did not possess before,” the US senator went on to say.

He didn’t specify whether he envisions that American troops could be involved in such a military intervention – and he likely has foremost in his mind the Israelis and Lebanese taking action – but he’s one who has never shied away from using American soldiers in overseas conflicts.

US envoy to the region Tom Barrack had led the American delegation that visited Beirut this week, and there was plenty of controversy unleashed by the visit, and specifically when he chastised the Lebanese over being ‘civilized’ and not ‘animalistic’…

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“Well Done, President Trump” Outspoken War-Pig Lindsey Graham CHEERS the News that President Trump Bombed Iran

President Trump announced on Saturday night that the US dropped bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday.

Cristina Laila reported:

President Trump on Saturday evening announced the US dropped bombs on three nuclear sites in Iran.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump said on Truth Social on Saturday.

Trump later announced on TRUTH social that the Fordow nuclear sight was “gone.”

As many Americans withdrew in horror upon hearing this news and what it means for the country, the warmongers were out in force cheering the news that the US had bombed Iran.

War-Pig Lindsey Graham cheered the news that Trump had taken his advice and bombed Iranian sites.

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President Trump Sends Warning to Lindsey Graham and Mike Pompeo For Going to Ukraine and Provoking Ukrainians to Keep Fighting Russia

President Trump warned Senator Lindsey Graham and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for going to Ukraine and encouraging them to continue fighting Russia.

“Lindsey Graham and Mike Pompeo were on the ground in Ukraine, trying to provoke Ukrainians to keep fighting. What do you think of that?” a reporter asked President Trump after he touched down in New Jersey.

Trump warned Lindsey Graham and Pompeo to be careful about what they say.

“People have to be very careful with what they say. Their mouth could get them into a lot of trouble.”

As TGP recently reported, Volodymyr Zelensky announced that 117 drones were used in the strike inside Russia that wiped out dozens of nuclear “doomsday” bombers and other aircraft.

President Trump WAS NOT NOTIFIED of the attack before it took place – because Trump wants peace and the globalists want World War and the destruction of Russia.

Senator Lindsey Graham, who was in Ukraine just two days before Zelensky’s drone strikes, cheered the news of the attack.

What did Lindsey Graham say to Zelensky during his visit to Ukraine last month?

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War-Pig Lindsey Graham Itching for Another Endless War with Iran — Tells Trump to Go “All‑In” and Join with Israel

War-Pig Lindsey Graham is itching for another endless war.

Appearing on Fox News Monday night, Graham called for direct U.S. military involvement alongside Israel and floated the idea of an outright regime change in Tehran.

Apparently, diplomacy is just a speed bump for Graham on the highway to regime change. In his own words, Graham praised President Trump, saying the time has come for America to go “all in” to “help Israel eliminate the nuclear threat.” Translation? More bombs, more blood, more American involvement.

But Graham didn’t stop at just military strikes. He’s now openly calling for regime change in Iran.

War-Pig Lindsey Graham: I take President at his word. He gave Iran 60 days to do a deal on the 61st day. We are where we are. There’s two ways to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon. One is diplomacy, the other is force. I think the headline tonight is we’re moving into the land of force. I think Iran has allowed themselves to be fooled in the thinking they could manipulate Trump. Same old tactics with the wrong guy when it comes to Trump.

To all those who voted for President Trump and got him in office, God bless you. He’s the right guy at the right time. These are dangerous times.

Why do we say no nuclear weapon for Iran? They’re a religious theocracy. They’re built around the extreme version of Islam. They want to destroy Saudi Arabia and the Suni branch of Islam. They want to kill all the Jews in Israel and come after us. That’s what their whole country is built upon, a theocratic view that There’s nobody else in the world but them when it comes to worshiping God. If they had a nuclear weapon, they would use it. Israel believes that. I believe that.

Here’s the task at hand. Be all in, President Trump, in helping Israel eliminate the nuclear threat. If we need to provide bombs to Israel, provide bombs. If we need to fly planes with Israel, do joint operations.

But here’s the bigger question. Wouldn’t the world be better off if the Ayatollahs went away and were replaced by something better? Wouldn’t Iran be better off? Tom Cotton is coming on. He made a great observation. The endless war is Iran. Since 1979, they’ve been attacking the entire region, chanting death to America, death to Israel, since their very founding.

It’s time to close the chapter on the Iranian Ayatollah and his henchmen. Let’s close that chapter soon and start a new chapter in the Middle East, one of tolerance, hope, and peace.

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War Pig Lindsey Graham Demands US Dive Headfirst into Israel’s War, Pushes for Regime Change — ‘Help Finish the Job’

Sen. Lindsey Graham is continuing to push for the US to fully enter Israel’s war against Iran, including potential regime change efforts.

Graham, giddy like a schoolgirl at the prospect of war, made the comments on Sunday’s episode of CBS’s “Face The Nation.”

Host Margaret Brennan began, “The thing with diplomacy is that the Israeli Prime Minister is calling for the Iranian people to rise up against the regime—a regime he says is calling for the destruction of his state. It doesn’t seem like there’s a compromise there. If it’s truly this existential, is this just leading us toward the outcome you say, which is the United States getting involved in military conflict?”

“I would love for the regime to fall. If you don’t—if you want this regime to stay in power—you are wanting people to oppress the Iranian people. You want people to threaten their neighbors, to be the largest—who wants the largest state sponsor of terrorism to stay in place?” Graham replied.

“But regime policy—not the policy of the United States. It’s not the purpose of this attack—yet,” Graham continued.

The career neoconservative politician continued, “If there’s one attack on an American in the Mideast by Iran, then you will get regime change.”

“What are we dealing with? We are dealing with a non-negotiable part of the deal,” he said. “They can’t have a nuclear program that can make a bomb. Diplomacy is preferred, as Dick says. But force may be the only option.”

Graham said that he told President Donald Trump that he needs to “help Israel finish the job” if diplomacy fails.

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War-pig Lindsey Graham Cheers Israel’s Attack on Iran – Calls on US and Trump to “Go All-In” and “Finish the Job”

On Friday morning, Israeli military forces attacked several locations in Iran, including residential areas in the capital, Tehran. Several explosions were heard across the country.

At the same time, images of several locations in Tehran being targeted were posted on social media. The Israeli Minister of War issued a decree declaring a special state of emergency on Friday morning.

The international news reported Thursday that numerous countries recalled their officials from many embassies in the Middle East prior to the anticipated Israeli strikes.

Most Americans understand the seriousness of this moment. Iran has already threatened the United States for our connections with Israel and the regime alleged the US was in on the planning.

Most people were worried – But not Lindsey Graham.

Lindsey posted these jubilant remarks on X on Friday morning.

Again, I applaud President Trump for urging Iran back to the negotiating table, in order to end the regime’s nuclear ambitions through diplomacy, avoiding further bloodshed.

However, if Iran refuses this offer, I strongly believe it is in America’s national security interest to go all-in to help Israel finish the job. One of the benefits of this approach is that it would substantially undo the damage done to our reputation by Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.

If diplomacy fails, going all-in for Israel shows that America is back as a reliable ally and a strong force against oppression. It would strengthen our hand in all corners of the world, as well as all other conflicts we face.

Lindsey wants his war!

Maybe this will get him to forget about Ukraine for a few hours?

And, for the record, here is Lindsey’s buddy John McCain singing about bombing Iran.

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Shadow Diplomacy and Sanctions Sabotage: The Constitutional Crisis Brewing in Ukraine

In May and June 2025, a bipartisan delegation including Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Kyiv, Ukraine, where they publicly advocated for escalating sanctions against Russia, China, and India. Their visit and messaging directly contradict President Trump’s ongoing diplomatic approach, which emphasizes restraint, strategic de-escalation, and renewed peace negotiations. This white paper explores the constitutional and national security implications of such rogue diplomacy, warns of the precedent it sets, and offers recommendations to restore executive primacy in foreign affairs.

I. Background and Context

The United States Constitution places the authority over foreign policy firmly within the Executive Branch. Article II, Section 2 vests the President with the power to conduct diplomacy, command the armed forces, and negotiate treaties. While Congress holds sanctioning power and oversight responsibilities, no individual member or coalition has the authority to represent U.S. foreign policy abroad without Executive coordination.

“A lot of countries still buy Russian oil and gas but less. Some European countries still have relationships with Russia, but they’ve been very helpful to Ukraine. So I want to carve them out,” Graham told reporters Wednesday.

“I tell China, if you don’t want to have a 500 percent tariff, help Ukraine.” Lyndsey Graham

In May 2025, Senator Graham led a delegation to Ukraine alongside Senator Blumenthal and Mike Pompeo. During the visit:

  • The group praised Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian airfields.
  • They announced a bipartisan push for a “Sanctioning Russia Act” targeting any country trading with Russia.
  • Graham and Pompeo gave statements suggesting bipartisan U.S. commitment to military and economic escalation.

These actions were taken without President Trump’s authorization and occurred while his administration was pursuing diplomatic de-escalation and ceasefire negotiations through backchannels.

“There’s some of our allies who’ve really helped Ukraine but would be affected by the bill, they’ve earned their way to get a carveout. Those who have helped Ukraine, meaningfully, will get a carveout. In other words you’ll incentivize people to help Ukraine.” Lyndsey Graham

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