(José Niño, Headline USA) Three men claim the late Senator Lindsey Graham paid them for sex, the New York Times reported. Their claims appear in a video that the progressive online network the Young Turks released on Thursday. The South Carolina Republican died suddenly in July.
The half hour film, titled “The CLOSETocracy,” features a man named Kelvin. He alleges that Graham paid him for sex when he was 17 and secretly recorded the encounter.
A second man, Cory, says a chauffeured car took him to the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, where Graham paid him for sex and an overnight stay. He claims he recognized the senator on television months later, during the 2016 presidential race. A third man says Graham also paid him for sex.
The Times stressed that it has not verified the men’s identities or their accounts. A promotional website, the Lindsey Graham Files, claims to display travel receipts and other records.
The man calling himself Cory has also appeared in pornographic films as Sean Harding. Under that name, he wrote online in 2020, “There is a homophobic republican senator who is no better than Trump who keeps passing legislation that is damaging to the lgbt and minority communities. Every sex worker I know has been hired by this man. Wondering if enough of us spoke out if that could get him out of office?”
None of the men named Graham publicly until he could no longer rebut the claims or sue.
The film dropped less than two weeks before the midterms. Graham’s sister, Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., is fighting to keep his seat with President Trump’s endorsement.
Rep. William Timmons, a South Carolina Republican and Graham protégé, argued that “after 45 years of service to South Carolina and our country, he deserves better than the Left spreading disgraceful lies about a man who is no longer here to defend himself.” Timmons added that “the willingness to stoop to homophobic attacks for political gain says far more about them than it ever will about Lindsey,” and predicted a 10 point win for Darline Graham.
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., praised the men as “brave.” “The worst kept secret in Washington DC came out today because 3 brave men came out and told the truth,” she posted. “We all knew Lindsey Graham was gay. Everyone did.” The real danger, she argued, is “that America’s most powerful leaders keep secrets that comprise them in the most dangerous ways for the security, safety, and prosperity of our nation.”
Young Turks co-founder Cenk Uygur hyped the project as a “bombshell documentary,” but many conservatives shrugged. “Dear Democrats, This is why we called him Lady Graham,” wrote Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet. “This isn’t an October surprise, we’ve known this for years. And blaming his sister for the fact Lindsey was a poorly closeted gay man, is only going to backfire. No one cares.”
Graham never married and always denied the rumors. He died at 71 from an aortic dissection. “I ain’t available,” he told the Times in 2010. “I ain’t gay. Sorry.”
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
