President Trump 'could be impeached if he brings back waterboarding', senator warns

A Republican senator has suggested that President Trump is at risk of being impeached if he attempts to bring back waterboarding.

Senator Lindsey Graham gave the stark warning during a hearing for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

During the hearing, he asked Gorsuch: ‘You have said several times he is not above the law as president, is that correct?’

After Gorsuch agreed with the question, Senator Graham also got him to admit that waterboarding is forbidden under the Detainee Treatment Act.

Senator Graham then went on to suggest that President Trump may be watching the hearing, and appeared to address him directly as he said: ‘If you start waterboarding people, you may get impeached.’

His stern address comes after the U.S. leader reaffirmed his belief that waterboarding could prove to be an effective tool in the battle against Islamic State – and claimed that it ‘absolutely’ worked.

In an interview with ABC News in January, he said: ‘When Isis is doing things that nobody has ever heard of since Medieval times, would I feel strongly about waterboarding?

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‘I have spoken with people at the highest level of intelligence and I asked them the question “Does it work? Does torture work?” and the answer was “Yes, absolutely”.

Former CIA director Leon Panetta was among those who criticised the President’s support for the controversial torture method – and claimed that it would be ‘a serious mistake to take a backward step’ on torture.

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