Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., sought unanimous consent to set up his amendment barring indefinite detention of terrorism suspects for a vote. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wasn’t going to give it to him.
“Just four or five years ago, this body passed a bill that says an American citizen can be detained forever,” Paul said on the Senate floor. “That an American citizen accused of a crime in the United States can be sent to a foreign camp and held forever without trial.”
Paul did not expect Graham to go along with his amendment. “When you mention this to people, people are incredulous,” Paul added. “They’re like, ‘Who is the person that would object to the Bill of Rights? Who is it that possibly objects to the Fifth and the Sixth Amendment? Well, you’re going to hear from that person shortly.”
“For 33 years I was a military lawyer, a prosecutor, defense attorney, and a military judge,” Graham replied. “I think I know the difference between fighting a crime and fighting a war. When it comes to fighting a war, if you capture somebody who’s part of the enemy force, Sen. Paul, the last thing we worry about is how to try them.”
Graham said this was vital to gathering intelligence about enemy operations. “We had 450,000 German and Japanese prisoners in the United States,” he continued. “Guess what? Not one of them had a lawyer.”
Paul and Graham have been sparring over foreign policy for as long as the two Republicans have served together in the Senate. For the past year and a half, the two have also been vying to sway President Trump, who has demonstrated some less interventionist impulses that resonate with Paul — regarding the Iraq war as a mistake, calling for withdrawal from Syria and initially hesitating before increasing troops in Afghanistan — but also a desire to project American power that is more in sync with Graham.
Both men were sharply critical of Trump when they ran against him for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. After neither of their campaigns went very far, they tried a more conciliatory approach.
“If you don’t like me working with President Trump to make the world a better place, I don’t give a shit,” Graham said in a television interview Friday.
Graham and Paul remain contentious with each other, however.
Paul blasted Graham as “a danger to the country” for “even proposing ideas like authorizing war with Korea.” He later told Fox News his colleague was “dangerously naive” about North Korea.
“President Trump wasn’t kidding when he said he would use military force. It is the last option,” Graham subsequently said on the same network. “Contrary to what Sen. Paul says, the only way you’re going to get North Korea to give up their nuclear weapons program is for them to believe they are better off without it than with it, and that comes down to Trump convincing them that they can no longer go on the path they are going without a fight.”
Both senators backed Trump on his summit with Kim Jong Un, but as in so many other foreign hot spots they are trying to influence the White House on what comes next. This contributed to the fireworks between the two last week.
“We should be alarmed that there are people trying to prevent a trial by jury in our country,” Paul said of Graham in a Senate speech. “You short-circuit America — you short-circuit American history — if you get rid of a trial by jury, if you get rid of presumption of innocence.”
Trump also jostled with both men during the GOP nominating contest, mocking Paul’s physical appearance and giving out Graham’s cellphone number on the stump. He has since become golfing partners with them.
“Lindsey used to be a great enemy of mine, and now he’s a great friend of mine,” Trump remarked at the White House in January. “ I really like Lindsey. Can you believe that? I never thought I’d say that, but I do like him a lot.”
The president has had similar kind words for Paul.
“I will say this about Rand Paul,” Trump said in April. “He’s never let me down. Rand Paul is a very special guy, as far as I’m concerned.”
[Also read: Rand Paul’s neighbor sentenced to 30 days in prison for yard attack]
