Sen. Lindsey Graham defended his request for documents on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s work in Ukraine, saying “that’s the way it works in politics.”

“I like Joe Biden, I like him a lot, I think he’s a fine man,” the Senate Judiciary chairman said on Monday. "I'm not saying Joe did anything wrong but I want to see the transcripts. But if there's nothing there I'll be the first one to say there's nothing there. But we're not going to live in a country where only one party gets investigated."


In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week, Graham requested documents related to phone calls between Biden and then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko over the United States’ requests to fire Viktor Shokin, its top prosecutor. Shokin at the time was widely viewed as corrupt by Western leaders, and Republican senators also supported his removal.

Graham also requested records of a meeting between Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s business partner and a Bursma board member, with then-Secretary of State John Kerry in 2016.

There has been no evidence of wrongdoing by the former vice president. While some Republicans have alleged that Biden sought to have Shokin removed while he was looking into Burisma, multiple witnesses in the House's impeachment inquiry have testified that Shokin was an impediment to legitimate corruption investigations, including investigations into Burisma. Kurt Volker, former special envoy to Ukraine, said last week that the allegations against Biden "are self-serving and non-credible."

Graham tweeted Monday “that Hunter Biden’s association on the Burisma board doesn’t pass the smell test,” adding that if a Republican was in the same position, they’d certainly be investigated.”


Graham’s comments come after Biden last week told CNN that he was “embarrassed” for Graham for requesting the documents, adding that President Donald Trump was “holding power” over the South Carolina Republican.

"I am disappointed and quite frankly I am angered by the fact, he knows me, he knows my son, he knows there’s nothing to this,” Biden said in a terse exchange that could call into question his claim that he can work across the aisle with Republicans if elected president. “Lindsey is about to go down in a way that I think he’s going to regret his whole life.”

Republicans have tried to shift the focus from the president to Hunter Biden as the House pursues its impeachment inquiry into Trump for pressuring the Ukrainian government to investigate his political rivals. Hunter Biden has come under scrutiny for his role on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, while his father was vice president and tasked with fighting corruption in Ukraine.

Graham wrote that the documents he’s requested would “assist in answering questions regarding allegations that Vice President Biden played a role in the termination of prosecutor general Shokin in an effort to end the investigation of the company employing his son.”


Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.

