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Newly surfaced documentary footage of Senator Lindsey Graham, who died earlier this month, offers an unfiltered look inside three years of the South Carolina Republican's closest relationships and his relentless campaign for war with Iran.
The material, filmed by documentarian Alex Holder for a project titled Lindsey's Game, was obtained by The Wall Street Journal, which reviewed hundreds of hours of raw footage and spoke with Holder directly.
The footage captures Graham on calls with President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and former U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, often with the camera crew sitting just feet away.
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Here are the standout moments from the footage, all first reported by the Journal. Newsweek reached out to Graham's former press office for comment Monday.
Netanyahu Talked Him Out of Pushing Trump Into Lebanon
Graham had been preparing to fly to Florida in early March to lobby Trump into joining Israel's bombing campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to the footage, Netanyahu called him ahead of the trip and argued that expanding U.S. involvement while the Iran war was underway would be a step too far. Graham, sitting in his Senate office surrounded by Trump hats and a bottle of bourbon, agreed on the spot, calling it "good counsel," per the Journal's account of the exchange.
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Graham Openly Celebrated the Start of the Iran War
When U.S. strikes on Iran began in February, Graham reacted to the documentary crew with unrestrained glee, telling them he'd almost cried and asking how long they had been pushing for the operation. He then relayed that Trump was just as thrilled, quoting the president as calling it the best thing he'd ever done and adding that Trump "loves blowing stuff up," according to the footage described to the Journal.
A Direct Line to the Saudi Crown Prince
The documentary shows Graham traveling to meet personally with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to make the case for the Iran campaign.
Holder told the Journal that Saudi officials treated Graham the way a visiting head of state would be treated, and that Graham himself marveled at how a senator from South Carolina had built a tighter relationship with the Saudi leader than most people in either party's administration.
Freezing Out Two of Trump's Closest Aides
Speaking with Sullivan, Biden's former national security adviser, about the difficulty of working with the Trump White House on Middle East diplomacy, Graham said he couldn't get anything done through Jared Kushner or Steve Witkoff because they were too conflicted, and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio needed to be the one running point, per the footage reviewed by the Journal.
A White House official told the Journal that Witkoff and Kushner were close friends of Graham's and effective dealmakers.
Graham's Iran Timeline Was Wildly Wrong
In that same March conversation, Sullivan pressed Graham on how long the war would last. Graham predicted that within three to four weeks Iran would begin losing control of major cities, that Arab nations would become more openly involved, and that the momentum would become nearly irreversible, the Journal reported. Months later, none of that had come to pass.
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Turning on Trump for Going Soft
By June, Graham was venting to the crew that Trump was letting the war "slip away" after signing a preliminary deal with Iran, saying he needed to go talk to him directly, according to the footage. He also complained that too few Republicans in the administration were out publicly selling the war, telling the crew he was shocked by the silence.
Calling the Whole Thing 'a Game'
Holder told the Journal that Graham described his role in global affairs as a kind of game he was playing, and that Graham was candid about how strange he found it that he, rather than any formal U.S. diplomat, had become the go-between for Middle East power brokers.
Graham also reportedly told Holder that if the documentary turned out well he'd take credit for it, and if it flopped he'd simply blame "a bunch of Communists" and use it to raise money.
Working Himself to the Point of Exhaustion
In his final weeks, Holder said Graham looked increasingly exhausted. The senator reportedly told the filmmaker that he didn't have time to sleep because he was still trying to finish off the Iranian regime, broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal, and lock in a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal before year's end.
Holder recalled Graham, looking disheveled, complaining that no one else was helping him carry the load and insisting there was no way he could die yet.
Lindsey's Game does not yet have a release date, but Holder told the Journal that he's aiming to release the full documentary in the next few months.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Sam Wilson.
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