A tearful Lindsey Graham has begged Donald Trump’s supporters to send the wealthy business tycoon turned former president money to help him fight his criminal indictment.
Speaking on Fox News’ Sean Hannity programme on Thursday night, the Republican senator appeared to choke up with emotion as he branded the indictment against Mr Trump “legal voodoo” and complained that “they are trying to drain him dry”.
“They’re trying to drain him dry. He’s spent more money on lawyers than most people spent on campaigns,” he said.
Mr Graham went on to plug the former president’s website three times in a matter of minutes as he urged the American people to fund Mr Trump’s legal battles.
“Go tonight. Give the president some money to fight this bulls***!” he begged.
“To those who are listening tonight: If you believe Trump is being treated poorly and wrongly, stand up and help the man.”
He added: “This is going to destroy America. We’re going to fight back at the ballot box. We’re not going to give in.
“How does this end, Sean? Trump wins in court and he wins the election. That’s how this ends.”
Mr Graham – a staunch ally of the one-term president – blasted the indictment a “pile of crap”.
“If you got a pile of crap and you chop it up 34 times, it’s still a pile of crap. It’s duplicitous charging. They’re trying to smear the guy,” he claimed as he became increasingly emotional.
“They’re trying to take cases that nobody else would take and resurrect him. This is literally legal voodoo. This is political persecution. This is a combination of political hatred and selective prosecution on steroids.”
The Republican spoke out just hours after a Manhattan grand jury voted on Thursday to indict Mr Trump on criminal charges over hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
It is currently unclear what the charges are but multiple reports say that Mr Trump is facing more than 30 counts related to business fraud.
The unprecedented indictment makes him the first current or former president to ever face criminal charges in the history of the US.
Now, Mr Trump is expected to appear in a court in Manhattan to be arraigned on Tuesday, with a tentative hearing time set for 2.15pm ET. The date and time is, however, subject to change.
Manhattan prosecutors have been investigating whether Mr Trump falsified the Trump Organization’s business records when his former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen made a payment of $130,0000 to Ms Daniels days before the 2016 election.
Prosecutors claim that the money was used to silence Ms Daniels about an alleged affair she had with Mr Trump.
Mr Trump has long denied having an affair with the adult film star.
Mr Trump’s former fixer and personal attorney Cohen was convicted of tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations related to the payments to Ms Daniels. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
In recent weeks, the probe ramped up with both Cohen and Ms Daniels testifying before the grand jury.
Mr Trump was also invited to testify. Though it was an invite he unsurprisingly turned down, it was a strong sign an indictment was on the way.
