UPDATED with latest: The office of the Washington, D.C., chief medical examiner said that Lindsey Graham died of an aortic dissection. The New York Times described that as “a tear in the main artery that carries blood from the heart, caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, a gradual weakening and hardening of the arteries.”
According to multiple reports, the medical examiner’s office issued a statement which indicated the findings were preliminary.
“The death certificate will be PENDING until all the toxicological and microscopic testing are finalized and at that point the death certificate will be updated to reflect the cause of death and appropriately classify the manner of death,” it read.
PREVIOUSLY at 1:26 a.m.: Sen. Lindsey Graham has died at the age of 71.
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Graham suffered what his office described as a “brief and sudden illness” on Saturday evening. NBC News reported that emergency services responded to a call for “cardiac arrest” at Graham’s Capitol Hill home.
“On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,” the statement from Graham’s office said. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.”
Graham, a key political ally of President Donald Trump who was elected to the Senate in 2003, had only recently returned from Ukraine, where he met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump paid tribute to his colleague. “Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead! He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “So sad!”
Graham, who represented South Carolina, was a steadfast foreign policy hawk, but became known for his loyalty to Trump after initially being critical of the “jackass” former Apprentice host when he ran for president in 2016.
Graham later donated $500,000 to Trump’s efforts to legally challenge the result of the 2020 election. A retired air force reserve colonel and military lawyer, he was running for re-election in November.
