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Scoop: White House directed Lindsey Graham & David Perdue to block Armenian genocide resolution
Last edited Sun Nov 24, 2019, 08:46 PM - Edit history (1)
Scoop: White House directed block of Armenian genocide resolution
Many were perplexed and outraged when, right after clashing with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a heated Oval Office meeting on Nov. 13, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham hurried back to the Senate floor and did something that likely delighted Erdoğan. Graham blocked a resolution that would have formally recognized Turkey's genocide of the Armenian people.
... snip
What happened next, which has not been previously reported: As Graham was leaving the Oval Office, senior White House staff asked him to return to the Senate and block the Armenian genocide resolution — a measure that would have infuriated Erdoğan.
*Graham confirmed this in a phone interview on Saturday.
"After the meeting, we kind of huddled up and talked about what happened," he said. A White House legislative affairs official told Graham that Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was going to bring up his Armenian genocide resolution and asked if Graham could "please object."
"I said sure," Graham said. "The only reason I did it is because he [Erdoğan] was still in town ... That would've been poor timing. I'm trying to salvage the relationship if possible."
Asked whether he felt uncomfortable blocking the Armenian genocide resolution, Graham replied: "Yeah. Because I like Bob [Menendez]. He's been working on this for years, but I did think with the president of Turkey in town that was probably more than the market would bear."
*"I'm not going to object next time," Graham added.
The "next time" happened last week. Menendez and his Republican Senate colleague Ted Cruz introduced the Armenian genocide resolution again. This time, the White House asked another Republican Senate ally, David Perdue, to block it.
More: https://www.axios.com/white-house-lindsey-graham-armenian-genocide-b3886afb-c626-476b-8a44-6d7197acd963.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twsocialshare&utm_campaign=organic
Many were perplexed and outraged when, right after clashing with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a heated Oval Office meeting on Nov. 13, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham hurried back to the Senate floor and did something that likely delighted Erdoğan. Graham blocked a resolution that would have formally recognized Turkey's genocide of the Armenian people.
... snip
What happened next, which has not been previously reported: As Graham was leaving the Oval Office, senior White House staff asked him to return to the Senate and block the Armenian genocide resolution — a measure that would have infuriated Erdoğan.
*Graham confirmed this in a phone interview on Saturday.
"After the meeting, we kind of huddled up and talked about what happened," he said. A White House legislative affairs official told Graham that Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was going to bring up his Armenian genocide resolution and asked if Graham could "please object."
"I said sure," Graham said. "The only reason I did it is because he [Erdoğan] was still in town ... That would've been poor timing. I'm trying to salvage the relationship if possible."
Asked whether he felt uncomfortable blocking the Armenian genocide resolution, Graham replied: "Yeah. Because I like Bob [Menendez]. He's been working on this for years, but I did think with the president of Turkey in town that was probably more than the market would bear."
*"I'm not going to object next time," Graham added.
The "next time" happened last week. Menendez and his Republican Senate colleague Ted Cruz introduced the Armenian genocide resolution again. This time, the White House asked another Republican Senate ally, David Perdue, to block it.
More: https://www.axios.com/white-house-lindsey-graham-armenian-genocide-b3886afb-c626-476b-8a44-6d7197acd963.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twsocialshare&utm_campaign=organic
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
won't forget this not be a longshot. tRump is nothing but an asshole and his repig buddies are also. Lindsay Graham is so deep into this I hope he buries himself and his career. Oh, don't rattle Erdogan's cage fucking dictators. tRump just wants to be in the club.
