WASHINGTON, DC — Unreleased documentary footage shows Lindsey Graham privately pressing US President Donald Trump and foreign leaders to overthrow Iran’s regime. The recordings capture the South Carolina senator advocating for expanded military action and diplomatic maneuvers in the months before his death in July at age 71.

The footage, captured on March 4, shows Graham planning to travel to Florida to persuade Trump to bring the US into Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. During these recorded exchanges, he advocated for military action against Iran that went beyond what Benjamin Netanyahu was prepared to support. He publicly pushed for American military action before the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28.

Filmmaker Alex Holder recorded conversations between Lindsey Graham and various officials after following Graham since 2023 with granted access to meetings, travel, and telephone conversations. Graham agreed to participate in the documentary to document his Senate career and encourage others to enter public service. Holder is reviewing hundreds of hours of footage for a documentary currently titled Lindsey’s Game, which he intends to release in the coming months.

Benjamin Netanyahu urged Graham not to expand the campaign against Hezbollah too quickly, warning that a full-scale offensive would leave Hezbollah with no reason to exercise restraint against Israel. Graham told Benjamin Netanyahu, "That’s actually good counsel." Netanyahu encouraged him to concentrate first on Iran. He argued to Netanyahu that the collapse of the Iranian regime could create an opportunity for Israel and Saudi Arabia to establish diplomatic relations. He told Netanyahu that he believed he could secure both Republican and Democratic support for normalization.

Filmmakers recorded Graham speaking with military commanders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. He traveled to meet Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud as part of his efforts to gain support for the campaign against Iran. In 2024, Graham received transportation within Saudi Arabia via government aircraft and motorpool from His Excellency Khalid bin Abdulrahman al-Eissa, President of the Royal Court of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was reported to the State Department because non-acceptance would cause embarrassment to the donor and the U.S. Filmmakers accompanied him to meetings with Israeli officials and the Mossad as preparations for the Iran conflict were underway.

Recordings show Graham discussing Middle East diplomacy with Jake Sullivan. He told Sullivan that he did not believe Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff could manage the negotiations because of what he considered conflicts of interest. He argued that Secretary of State Marco Rubio should take the lead in negotiations. A White House official rejected his criticism, describing Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff as successful negotiators and noting that they had maintained close personal relationships with Graham.

He predicted in March that the Iran war could produce political instability inside the country within three to four weeks. It was later reported that Graham's forecast regarding political instability in Iran proved inaccurate as the fighting continued. He expressed frustration that members of the Trump administration and other Republicans were not doing enough to publicly defend the war.

Several people who spoke with Graham by telephone said they had not known their conversations were being recorded. The footage documents his political transformation from a fierce Trump critic during the 2016 presidential campaign into one of the president’s most loyal congressional allies. He was widely regarded in Israel as one of the country’s strongest supporters in Washington and was a prominent advocate for Iranian opposition groups.

He told filmmakers that Trump was enthusiastic about the operation and viewed it as one of the most important decisions of his presidency. Graham told filmmakers, "Look what we’ve done here. I almost cried." During his final filmed interview, conducted at a bagel shop in Columbia, South Carolina, he criticized Trump for signing a preliminary agreement with Iran in June.

He said, "He’s letting this thing slip away," adding that he needed to speak to Trump directly. He spoke of completing several major objectives, including ending Iran’s regime, helping negotiate an agreement between Russia and Ukraine, and establishing diplomatic ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia. He was reportedly seeking an Israel-Saudi normalization agreement before the next US Congress was sworn in during the weeks before his death.