Lindsey Graham Says FBI Probe Into 'Russia Collusion' Became 'Criminal Pretty Quick'
Senator weighs in on highly anticipated IG report
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Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham branded the highly anticipated report from the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz as "criminal," during an interview on “Hannity."
Horowitz’s report is a full assessment of how and why the FBI chose to investigate the Donald Trump campaign for supposed collusion with Russia.
According to the report, the investigation began on legal ground, but it is critical of the FBI’s handling of intelligence from former MI6 spy Christopher Steele, whose accusations against Trump were used to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Application (FISA) warrants against Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
The report reads:
“[T]he FBI obtained additional information raising significant questions about the reliability of the Steele election reporting, the FBI failed to reassess the Steele reporting relied upon in the FISA applications."
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Graham added that Horowitz’s report only begins to scratch the surface of the injustice:
“What I’m here to tell you and the American people is this: if it started legitimate, it became criminal pretty quick," he said.
"Here’s what I’m going to say to Horowitz. Do you agree with me that in January 2017, after the sub source told the FBI and department of justice, everything in the dossier is a bunch of B.S.?"
"That’s when it became a criminal conspiracy… they told the court they were truthful and credible," he added.
At that point in time, people in the FBI and the Department of Justice defrauded the FISA court, trampled on the constitutional rights of Carter "Page and continued the surveillance of a duly elected president unlawfully …”
Lindsey Graham Cuts To The Chase: FBI Ran Criminal Enterprise to Defraud FISA Court, Trump and Page
— Neon Nettle (@NeonNettle) December 10, 2019
READ MORE: https://t.co/asKM51uhjg
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Graham continued:
“It’s a bunch of hearsay, gossip, and bar talk. It’s not reliable. I hope every American would agree that the proper thing for the FBI to do is to inform the court of exculpatory information. The wrong thing to do is to lie to the court about what the sub source told you…”
The Senator vowed to ask Horowitz some tough questions when his committee interviews the IG on Wednesday.
He also added that he finds it problematic that FBI agents have compromised the work of America’s national police force.
“This is what [former FBI Director] J. Edgar Hoover used to do. They used to make stuff up. They used to lie to people to get what they wanted … They hate Donald Trump’s guts, and any other conclusion is pretty ridiculous.”
