This week Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell earned the nickname “Moscow Mitch” when he single handedly blocked yet another bill that would have helped secure the 2020 U.S. elections against Russian hacking. Then we learned about McConnell’s lobbying connection to a Russian aluminum plant in his home state of Kentucky. Now another of Donald Trump’s partners is crime has done something abominable, and he’s promptly earned a nickname of his own.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham went from leading Trump critic to leading Trump cheerleader in an instant after he played a round of golf with Trump, raising still-unanswered questions about what Trump and Russia might be holding over him. Graham keeps going to increasingly corrupt and preposterous lengths in his new role as Trump’s legislative henchman. Today he made arguably his ugliest move to date.

Lindsey Graham used his position as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman to blatantly break the rules while advancing a bill which authorizes Donald Trump immigration concentration camps. This led Senate Democrats to loudly push back against Graham. It also prompted Tara Dublin to craft the nickname “Leningrad Lindsey” on Twitter – which ended up being a top trending topic for much of the day.

Meanwhile, “Leningrad Lindsey” has had little to say for himself about the debacle, apart from a predictably embarrassing performance last night on the Sean Hannity show. To be clear, Graham’s horrifying bill will have no chance of passing the Democratic House, and will not become law. But Graham is nonetheless committing an atrocity by ramming the bill through the Senate.



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