Senate Judiciary chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Monday announced his intent to open a series of sprawling investigations into why the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe was opened, and how it was handled. He also announced he intends to open an investigation into how the Hillary Clinton email probe was handled.
Graham, who is running for re-election next year, said he wants Attorney General William Barr to also appoint a special counsel to investigate those areas in addition to his own investigation. Chairman Graham, as Politico reported, said, “for the country’s sake: Appoint somebody outside the current system to look into these allegations, somebody we all trust and let them do what Mr. Mueller did.”
Among his targets for investigation appear to be: the FBI and the DOJ, Hillary Clinton, Jim Comey, and the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrant process.
Graham, in Monday’s press conference, said he supported the Mueller investigation. In the past year he has become one of President Trump’s top supporters. He bristled with outrage when a reporter asked if he could be considered objective when it comes to President Trump, especially as he dined with the President and delivered a speech at Mar-a-Lago just 90 minutes after the Mueller report was delivered to the Attorney General Friday night.
“By any reasonable standard,” Senator Graham said, “Mr. Mueller thoroughly investigated the Trump campaign. You cannot say that about the other side of the story,” he claimed, falsely.
“When it comes to the FISA warrant, the Clinton campaign, the counterintelligence investigation, it’s pretty much been swept under the rug,” Graham said, falsely. “Those days are over.”
The Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General last year released the findings of its investigation into the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email investigation, supporting the decision to not prosecute Clinton over her private email server and handling of emails.
Spouting long-debunked conspiracy theories popularized by far right wing media, Chairman Graham also asked, “What role did the [Steele] dossier play? Was it the primary source of the information given to the court, was it supplemental, was its outcome determinative?”
The far right has been falsely claiming the Steele Dossier was the basis for the Trump-Russia probe. It was not.
“I want to know the role James Comey played in this process. I want to find out: Was the only reason you recused yourself was because of the tarmac meeting with Loretta Lynch?” Graham asked, speaking to the spontaneous 2016 meeting former President Bill Clinton had with then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch while her plane was on a tarmac.
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