Emma Dumain

The State

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday morning laid out his next steps for dealing with the aftermath of Robert Mueller’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign: Start investigating whether Hillary Clinton got help from President Barack Obama’s Department of Justice.

At a press conference on Capitol Hill, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., reiterated his support for White House special counsel Mueller’s pursuit of answers regarding whether Trump or his associates colluded with the Russians to influence the outcome of his presidential election.

Graham said he would ask Attorney General William Barr to testify before his panel to answer questions about Mueller’s report, which — according to a four-page memo from Barr — did not find evidence of collusion or attempts by Trump at obstruction of justice. Graham also told reporters he wanted as much of the full report to be released to the public as possible.

This will satisfy Democrats who might have worried Graham’s alliance with Trump would deter him from calling Barr to testify and release the Mueller report.

But Graham said he would also be asking Barr to appoint a special counsel to determine whether the Obama administration’s Department of Justice unlawfully obtained a warrant to spy on a Trump associate as a way to help bolster Clinton, Trump’s 2016 Democratic challenger. That special counsel, Graham said, might also look into the Obama-era FBI’s handling of an investigation into Clinton’s use of private emails.

Graham signaled he was prepared to hold Judiciary Committee hearings on these topics, too.

“What makes no sense to me is that all of the abuse by the Department of Justice and the FBI, the unprofessional conduct, the shady behavior — nobody seems to think that’s much important,” Graham said. “Well, that’s gonna change, I hope.”



This decision to turn attention from an inquiry into the current president to an examination of Trump’s former Democratic challenger is sure to set Graham on a collision course with Democrats.

It also could complicate Republican efforts to claim victory in the Mueller report’s findings and, in the words of many GOP lawmakers — including Graham — “move on.”

But Graham suggested that investigating Democrats would bring some parity to the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump.

“I think we need to move on in terms of the deep dive into Trump,” Graham told a smaller group of reporters following his press conference. “Have Barr tell us what the report said ... But moving on includes the other stuff.”

Graham also took the microphones on Monday to defend himself against accusations that it might have been unseemly for him to have spent the weekend at Trump’s estate in Florida as the political world awaited the verdict from the Mueller report — he spoke at a Palm Beach GOP fundraiser on Friday and golfed with the president on Sunday.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Graham said. “I am an elected political official. I am a Republican. I am going all over the country to speak to the Republican Party. I want Trump to win. I’m chairman of the Judiciary Committee ... To suggest if you’re a Republican and you want Trump to win, somehow you can’t do your job, is absurd.”