Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and other Republicans are calling for an investigation, and possibly the appointment of a new special counsel, into the FBI surveillance of the Trump campaign.
Graham told reporters on Monday that he wants to investigate the surveillance warrants obtained by the FBI against Carter Page, an adviser to the Trump campaign, which were ultimately used to wiretap Page.
The warrants, however, were granted partially based on material contained in the infamous and uncorroborated “dossier” produced by Christopher Steele.
Graham and his colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee want to get to the bottom of the matter, and determine if the warrants were used as “a back-door to spy on the campaign.”
“Whether or not it’s illegal, I don’t yet know,” Graham said. “What makes no sense to me is that all of the abuse by the Department of Justice and the FBI—the unprofessional conduct, the shady behavior—nobody seems to think that’s much important. Well that’s going to change, I hope.”
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), however, told The Columbus Dispatch that he opposes calls to have Attorney General William Barr appoint a new special counsel to investigate what Graham called “the other side of the story.”
Portman is open to the idea of a possible Department of Justice investigation, and said he believes the “politics of the FBI and FISA court decisions” should be reviewed.
“To me, this is about transparency—letting people know what happened and giving the American people some confidence that the system works,” he added.
In a recent Fox News interview, Portman said he believes the full findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report should be released to the public.
“I don’t think there will be much of a delay. I’m told it will be days or weeks before we get the report,” he said. “That’s good. Obviously there will have to be some grand jury and classified information that is redacted. I want to see the report. The American people deserve to see it, that’s what’s most important.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
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