Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that he was done caring about special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian inference in the 2016 presidential campaign and President Donald Trump’s repeated attempts to obstruct the investigation. But in the same sentence, he admitted that he has not actually bothered to fully read Mueller’s report.

“I can’t say I’ve read it all,” Graham said during a lengthy opening statement at his committee hearing on Wednesday with Attorney General William Barr. The topic of the hearing was the “Department of Justice’s Investigation of Russian Interference with the 2016 Presidential Election,” making the report on that topic seemingly required reading for the man running it.

Graham demonstrated his lack of familiarity with the actual text of Mueller’s report by making numerous false characterizations, incorrectly claiming that Mueller had instructed Barr to decide whether Trump had obstructed justice and saying that Mueller had determined there was “no collusion” between Trump’s campaign and the Russian regime.

As he wrapped up his opening statement, Graham declared, “I have read most of the report. For me, it is over.”


Graham indicated on Sunday that he had little interest in any of Mueller’s findings or Trump’s repeated attempts to obstruct justice. Mueller’s report lays out 10 instances of potential obstruction that the special counsel’s office examined.

“I’m done,” he told CBS News. “It’s over for me.”