Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called the White House on Jan. 6 and said lawmakers would ask Cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove then-President Trump from office if he did not do more to condemn the rioters at the Capitol, according to a new book by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns.
“This Will Not Pass” says that Graham furiously called White House counsel Pat Cipollone while the riot was happening on Jan. 6, 2021, Axios reported.
“We’ll be asking you for the 25th Amendment” if Trump does not do more to condemn the rioters, Graham told Cipollone.
Graham’s office told The Hill they have no comment on the incident.
The 25th Amendment allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to issue a written declaration to the Senate and Congress stating that the president is unable to discharge their powers. The move would allow the vice president to assume the powers of acting president.
The use of the amendment was frequently discussed during Trump’s presidency.
According to the Martin-Burns book, Graham said he hoped the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol would unite the country as he left the building that night, per Axios.
“People will say, ‘I don’t want to be associated with that.’ … There will be a rallying effect for a while, the country says: We’re better than this,” Graham said.
After the Capitol attack, Graham went after Trump in February of last year, saying Trump would be remembered for his role leading up to the riot.
But Graham has remained an ally of Trump’s who sometimes golfs with the former president.
Trump is now flirting with a new run for the White House.