Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters on Monday that he urged the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to turn over to the FBI a dossier by a former British spy detailing potential connections between Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and the Russian government.

Graham was referring to the document written by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele.

“There were some McCain people who took a piece of garbage and tried to go after Trump after the election. But I told the president it was not John McCain. I know because John McCain showed me the dossier,” said Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “And I told him the only thing I know to do with it, it could be a bunch of garbage, it could be true, who knows, turn it over to somebody whose job it is to find out. And John McCain acted appropriately.”

Graham and McCain were tight friends during their Senate service, but they took different approaches to Trump after his election as president.

Graham, a 2016 GOP primary rival of Trump, embraced the president's agenda on a range of issues. McCain remained a staunch Trump critic until he died in August 2018.

Trump has in recent days criticized McCain's legacy. On Monday, Graham also told Trump while the two golfed together at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club that the deceased senator and former Republican presidential candidate “deserves better.”

[Related: Steele admitted using posts by 'random individuals' on CNN website to back up Trump dossier]