Sen. Lindsey Graham did not take kindly to former President Barack Obama’s criticism of the Justice Department under Attorney General William Barr.
The South Carolina Republican delivered a message to the 44th president live Saturday evening on Fox News while speaking with host Jeanine Pirro.
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“President Obama, do you know what compromised the rule of law?” Graham said. “Hiding evidence from a court, altering emails, trying to manufacture a crime versus investigating a crime.”
Graham, who is the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, was referring to revelations about the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, including issues with the use of a secret surveillance court and the criminal case against retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn,
The Justice Department filed to dismiss its criminal case against Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, on Thursday and newly released documents raised questions about the extent to which Obama was privy to the actions taken by the FBI.
In leaked audio obtained and reported by Yahoo News on Friday, Obama told former administration officials that the Justice Department’s recent actions show the “rule of law is at risk.”
Graham said he is committed to “political accountability” by calling witnesses before his committee to talk about the Russia investigation, including Obama administration officials, Flynn, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who has said for years there was evidence of Trump-Russia collusion.
The Russia investigation, which did not establish any criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, is being examined by U.S. Attorney John Durham. Barr, who appointed the Connecticut prosecutor to the task, has not dismissed the possibility of criminal prosecutions.
