Donald Trump could be impeached if he brings back waterboarding, says Republican Senator Lindsey Graham

'No man is above the law,' says President's pick for Supreme Court

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has warned that if Donald Trump starts waterboarding people, he may “get impeached”.

Mr Graham, a Republican who sits on the judiciary committee, questioned Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, saying: “If you start waterboarding people you may get impeached. Is that a fair summary?"

Mr Gorsuch replied: "Senator, the impeachment power belongs to this body.”

During the confirmation hearing, Mr Gorsuch also criticised Mr Trump's attacks on judges, calling them "disheartening" and "demoralising"

The President has been openly critical of the judiciary since taking the office, calling the US District Court Judge James Robarts, who blocked his proposed travel ban a "so-called judge"

Waterboarding was made illegal under two Senate-ratified treats – the Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions – and is also banned under the federal War Crimes Act.

During his campaign, Mr Trump insisted waterboarding was not a form of torture, telling Fox News: “I mean, torture is real torture, OK? Waterboarding is, I’m sure it’s not pleasant, but waterboarding was just short of torture. When you know, all of a sudden, they made it torture.”

In his first interview as President, Mr Trump said torture “absolutely works”, saying the US needed to “fight fire with fire” when it came to dealing with the threat posed by Isis.

According to the constitution, a US President can be impeached for "treason, bribery, or any other crimes or misdemeanours". There is debate about what this means exactly.

When Mr Gorsuch was asked in his confirmation hearing whether Mr Trump would be subject to prosecution if he used the water-torture technique, he said: “I’m not going to speculate.”

Yet, after being pressed by Mr Lindsey, he said: “No man is above the law. No man.”