1. Various of Sen. Lindsey Graham at press conference
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina:
"So let me tell you what's going to happen in November. This won't matter much. People are going to judge the president by what he's done and what he can do. And they're going to look at the Democratic alternative and ask, will I be better off with this person versus Trump? But I'm going to remember this. I'm going to remember this for a very long time. No good deed goes unpunished around this place. Working with my Democratic colleagues, I tried to give Mueller the space to do his job and I told the president to his face, if it's proven you work with the Russians or you sought something from the Russians and got it - that's it for me and you. Now, the same people that patted me on the back are asking me to railroad the guy, to legitimize a process in the House that will destroy the presidency over time. I will not be part of that. And you need to ask yourself some questions, would you be asking different questions if this were a Democratic president treated so poorly by a Republican House? Cause I remember Clinton very well. We got challenged, rightly so by what we were doing and why we were doing it. So I wouldn't cooperate at all with these people if I were the president."
Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized the House managers and Senate Democrats ahead of their opening arguments in the impeachment trial on Wednesday.
Graham said that during the Mueller investigation, he worked with his Democratic colleagues to make sure President Donald Trump cooperated with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
"Now, the same people that patted me on the back are asking me to railroad the guy, to legitimize the process in the House that will destroy the presidency over time. I will not be part of that," said Graham.
Graham also said that if he was the president, "I wouldn't cooperate at all with these people," referring to the House managers.
Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff of California, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is leading the prosecution team. The House prosecutors will have 24 hours over the next three days to present their case. The president's lawyers will follow with another 24 hours over three days to mount a defense. They are expected to take only Sunday off.
