Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said new information will soon emerge showing the Justice Department and FBI “blew through every stop sign” during the investigation into Russian election interference and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
During an interview on Fox News, the South Carolina Republican also teased the imminent release of evidence related to former Trump campaign associate George Papadopoulos and British ex-spy Christopher Steele.
On Thursday, President Trump gave Attorney General William Barr “full and complete authority to declassify information” related to the origins of the federal investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump also instructed the intelligence community and other agencies to cooperate with Barr in his efforts.
Graham said on Friday that “there will be some transcripts coming out soon” as well as new documents that will show investigators “knew early on” that Papadopoulos was not working with the Russians.
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with London-based professor Joseph Mifsud, who allegedly told Papadopoulos that the Russians had damaging information about Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic rival in the 2016 election. The FBI says it formally launched the Trump-Russia investigation, dubbed “Crossfire Hurricane,” in July 2016 after Australian diplomat Alexander Downer informed them that Papadapoulos told him the Russians had the dirt on Clinton.
Republicans have been skeptical about the origins of the investigation. Former Rep. Trey Gowdy recently claimed that there are unreleased transcripts of recorded conversations between FBI informants and Papadopoulos that “has the potential to be a game changer.”
Graham said “a lot of information” will be released showing that investigators had been “warned” that Steele was a “bad guy” and that “you can’t trust him.”
Steele’s unverified dossier, which was passed around the media and throughout the U.S. government in 2016, formed a key part of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act applications and warrant renewals targeting former Trump campaign associate Carter Page. Steele had been contracted by Fusion GPS, which was paid by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the Perkins Coie law firm.
Besides sharing his dossier with the FBI, Steele also personally briefed State Department official Kathleen Kavalec about it in October 2016, prior to the first FISA application. Her notes said Steele admitted he was encouraged by his client, the Clinton campaign and the DNC, to get his research out before the 2016 election.
Graham broadly laid out the different actions he believed Barr, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, and himself were all taking in the “investigation of the investigators.” He said that “Barr is going to look at it from a criminal point of view” while “Horowitz is going to tell us about the FISA warrant and internally how the Department of Justice and the FBI behaved.” Barr tasked U.S. Attorney John Durham to head up the review and said that Horowitz’s FISA abuse probe will be finished in May or June.
“I want to give you the raw material in a way that won’t compromise our national security,” Graham said of what he plans to do as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “And I’m going to look at all of it to make sure it never happens again.”
Graham added, “I want to make sure we have rules that you can’t just open up a counterintelligence investigation on a presidential candidate without having a good reason.”
Graham also teased reforming the FISA process itself, saying, “I’m going to make sure we have FISA laws that can detect when somebody is giving the court a bunch of garbage.” Republicans say the FBI did not verify the dossier before using it and that the bureau hid key facts from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, while Democrats have defended the FBI’s actions.
Recently released congressional testimony from former FBI Deputy General Counsel Trisha Anderson describes the “unusual” way the Page FISA was handled by top government leadership before being submitted to the FISA Court, including the involvement of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, and former FBI General Counsel Jim Baker.
“We need this [FISA] court because people are out to get us,” Graham said. “But the point is that if you can take the law in your own hands for political purposes, then it’s not good for our democracy.”
