Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was the keynote speaker at a closed-door Republican fundraiser at Florida’s Mar-a-Lago on March 22, addressing a crowd hours after Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed his Russian investigation report with the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Also in attendance was President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, who made a brief appearance to hear Graham deliver his speech and to thank his supporters who attended the event.
“If Lindsey’s speaking, I want to come down here,” Trump said, according to a video posted to social media. “For two reasons. No. 1: he’s a great speaker. And No. 2, I know if I’m here, he’s not going to say anything bad about me.”
Longer version pic.twitter.com/jgfiPyJam2
— Matt Dixon (@Mdixon55) March 23, 2019
Although news surfaced about the end of the Mueller investigation, Trump did not make a comment about it, reported Politico, citing an attendee of the event. Neither did any of the other speakers.
“Nobody mentioned anything, other than all of us saw our phones and knew the report dropped,” one of the attendees told the news website.
In his speech, Graham gave a shout of to former Rep. Trey Gowdy and also recounted his relationship with the president.
“We found a lot in common. I like him and he likes him,” Graham said, referring to how his relationship with Trump evolved over time.
Also during his speech, Graham continued his calls for an investigation into Hillary Clinton and the alleged misconduct in the handling of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant process against Mr. Carter Page.
This prompted the crowd to enthusiastically chant “Lock her up,” according to a CNN reporter.
“A ‘lock her up’ chant broke out at Mar-a-Lago tonight during Sen. Graham’s speech as he called for an investigation into Clinton and the origins of the dossier. Trump watched on from a table in the ballroom,” Kevin Liptak wrote.
A “lock her up” chant broke out at Mar-a-Lago tonight during Sen. Graham’s speech as he called for an investigation into Clinton and the origins of the dossier. Trump watched on from a table in the ballroom.
— Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) March 23, 2019
Graham has on numerous occasions called for the appointment of a new special counsel to investigate possible misconduct by the DOJ and the FBI.
We let Mueller look at ALL THINGS Trump related to collusion & more.
Somebody needs to look at what happened on the other side, find out if the FBI & DOJ had 2 systems – 1 supporting person they wanted to win, 1 out to get the person they wanted to lose.https://t.co/D8jVE0e5XZ
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 14, 2019
“There are two questions that I think the public deserves an answer to: Did they short-circuit the Clinton e-mail investigation because they wanted her to win, and they knew if they charged her she might lose? Did they start the Russian investigation against Trump as an insurance policy in case he did win? Those are the two questions that I’ll try to get you answers to,” Graham told Fox News on March 13.
According to Politico, the president and his wife left the room soon after Graham’s speech ended.
Meanwhile, some of the guests posted photos of the evening on social media.
View this post on InstagramGreat night with a great team at MAL!! #TeamTrump ????????????????????????????????
The fundraiser was hosted by the Palm Beach County Republican Party for their annual Lincoln Day Dinner.
From The Epoch Times