Recently-released dispatch audio sheds light on the death of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham last night.
The audio clip, obtained by CNN and shared by TMZ, reveals emergency crews responded to a “cardiac arrest” at the Republican politician’s home on Saturday night.
As CNN correspondent Brian Todd emphasized on air, however, the call does not confirm the senator died of cardiac arrest.
Graham’s office announced his death early on Sunday. “On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,” a statement from the office reads. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.”
NBC News, citing police scanner audio, also reported that emergency personnel responded to a call for “cardiac arrest” at Graham’s residence in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., on Saturday night. Subsequent EMS audio indicated CPR was in progress, NBC News added.
Additionally, NBC News obtained photographs showing paramedics transporting a person on a stretcher from Graham’s home to an ambulance, and police cars and fire trucks were also at the scene, according to the news organization.
In an X post, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel said that the FBI was “assisting local authorities and has made every necessary resource available.”
But law enforcement sources told CNN that investigators currently have no reason to suspect Graham died from unnatural causes or foul play. One source said local police were conducting a routine investigation, and the FBI had offered its resources.
A Graham staffer told NBC News on Sunday there wasn’t any indication the senator was feeling unwell before his death. Graham was also scheduled to appear on NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday, which would have been his 64th appearance on the program.
Graham served as a defense attorney and prosecutor in the U.S. Air Force and a city and county attorney in South Carolina before entering politics, according to CNN. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 and to the U.S. Senate in 2002. He was 71 years old.