CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins looked surprised when she played a new documentary clip showing late senator Lindsey Graham advising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on how to deal with accusations from the International Criminal Court about war crimes.
During an episode of The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Collins played an audio recording made by British filmmaker Alex Holder, who had full access to Graham while making a documentary about the South Carolina senator.
After the clip played, Collins said, “Wow,” and asked Holder what he thought of it.
What the footage showed
The audio, recorded in October 2024, captured Graham’s part of a phone call with Netanyahu.
In it, Graham joked that Netanyahu should “pay me for all this.I should get tons of shekels” for helping build support in Congress against the ICC’s investigation into the Israeli leader.
The call happened as the ICC was looking into Netanyahu for alleged crimes against humanity linked to Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
The court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024.
In the recording, Graham encouraged Netanyahu to personally call Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ben Cardin of Maryland to thank them for signing a letter asking for an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against then-ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan.
Graham told Netanyahu, “But I do need you, if you don’t mind tomorrow, to call Blumenthal and Cardin and thank them for being fair-minded on this and also thank them for trying to help with Saudi-Israel normalization.”
He continued, “You appreciate it.
You’re very interested in it.That will encourage both of them.”
Holder’s reaction to the call
Talking to Collins, Holder said the conversation stood out because “Sen.
Graham was telling the prime minister what to do.”
He added that the exchange showed what he saw as a transactional relationship.
“It also showed that he sort of felt he was owed one, in the sense of ‘I’m sort of scratching your back, you scratch mine,’ and that for him was Saudi-Israel normalization.He was really pushing that.He was really trying to get the prime minister to come on board and do what he needed to do to make that deal happen.”
The Khan allegations and their outcome
Cardin and Blumenthal signed the bipartisan letter asking for an investigation into the allegations against Khan in November 2024, weeks before the ICC issued its arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
Khan was removed as ICC chief prosecutor on July 24, after a nearly two-year investigation by the court’s oversight body into the sexual harassment allegations.
Graham’s role as documented on film
Holder told Collins that Graham’s relationship with Netanyahu showed the senator’s influence on international affairs.
“In some ways, more than domestic,” Holder said, was the “enormous impact” Graham had on geopolitical matters.
He also described the respect Graham had from world leaders, saying, “The respect I think that he got from other leaders was fascinating to witness.
The calls that he would get from other senators or from other leaders around the world to help them on their various issues was really quite unbelievable to capture and to see.The access really was extraordinary and he allowed us to peek behind the curtain.”
Holder said he spent more than 400 hours filming Graham over several years for the documentary, tentatively titled Lindsey’s Game.
Graham reportedly agreed to the project so his Senate career would be documented for future generations, and Holder has said he hopes to release the finished film in the coming months.
About the Author
