Lindsey Graham Thinks The ‘Salem Witches Got A Better Deal’ Than Trump Is Getting In The Impeachment Inquiry

Parroting a common theme among President Donald Trump’s own arguments against the impeachment inquiry, Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday compared the treatment that Trump is getting from House Democrats to the Salem Witch Trials.

Trump frequently calls any investigation into him a “witch hunt.” He did so consistently throughout the Russia investigation, and continues to do so within the impeachment inquiry involving his alleged attempts to secure a quid pro quo from Ukraine in order to get investigations started within that country that could help him politically within the 2020 presidential election.

Graham, who has been an ardent supporter of the president, took to Twitter to voice his complaints about the next stage of impeachment.

“Let me see if I have this right. [House Judiciary Chair] Jerry Nadler is inviting President Trump to participate in the Judiciary Committee hearings — after all the facts were gathered in [Rep. Adam] Schiff’s Intel Committee — where the president’s team was shut out,” Graham wrote. “Salem witches got a better deal than this!”

Let me see if I have this right.

Jerry Nadler is inviting President Trump to participate in the Judiciary Committee hearings — after all the facts were gathered in Schiff’s Intel Committee — where the president’s team was shut out.

Salem witches got a better deal than this!

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) November 27, 2019

Nadler invited Trump or a legal representative of the president earlier this week to participate in the House Judiciary Committee’s examination over whether articles of impeachment were warranted, according to prior reporting from HillReporter.com. “These procedures, and the privileges afforded to you therein, are consistent with those used by the Committee in the Nixon and Clinton impeachments,” Nadler wrote in a letter to Trump.

Graham’s comparisons of the impeachment inquiry to the Salem Witch Trials of the late-17th century are greatly exaggerated. For starters, the Witch Trials allowed “spectral evidence” — that is, testimony in which witnesses said a person’s spirit appeared to them and laid out accounts of what happened — as valid in cases against the accused, according to the Salem Witch Museum.

It should go without saying, but none of the 15 individuals who gave depositions in the impeachment inquiry used “spectral evidence” within their statements.

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Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) responded to Graham’s tweet by issuing out one of his own, pointing out the absurdity of the senator’s statement.

Hyperbole in context: 20 people were executed in the Salem witch trials and 4 others died in prison. None were actually witches and I doubt Giles Corey would believe he got a better deal than anybody. https://t.co/yZOXt34mAD

— Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (@CongressmanRaja) November 27, 2019

“Hyperbole in context: 20 people were executed in the Salem witch trials and 4 others died in prison,” Krishnamoorthi wrote.

“None were actually witches,” he added.