On Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham rejected President Donald Trump’s demand for former President Barack Obama to testify as part of his panel’s hearings in June on the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” probe into Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Lindsey Graham rejects Trump demand that Obama testify on Russia probe https://t.co/g9UBOYGDgl
— Giants (@2020NYGIANTS) May 15, 2020
Trump to Graham: ‘He knew everything. Do it, Lindsey Graham. Just do it’
A reporter asked Sen. Graham on Thursday, “If you could respond to President Trump’s tweet earlier today where he said, ‘If I were a senator or congressman, the first person I would call to testify is about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA by far is former President Obama. He knew everything. Do it, Lindsey Graham. Just do it.”
If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama. He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2020
Graham replied, “I issued a statement about that. We will be conducting oversight of all Crossfire Hurricane beginning the first week of June, I think. [We’ll be] starting with the Flynn case, then we’ll look at the Carter Page warrant application.”
“We’ll be calling all the people who signed the warrant and we’ll be asking questions like should there have ever been a Mueller investigation?’ and ‘Was there ever really any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia?” the senator said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham rejects Trump’s call to summon Obama to testify on alleged "Obamagate" conspiracy https://t.co/3jjDK3Rv1K
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 14, 2020
Graham: ‘It could be a bad precedent to compel a former president to come before the Congress’
“As to unmasking, we’ll be asking questions about that regarding Gen. Flynn,” Graham continued. “But as I said in my statement, no president’s above the law, but we do have separations of powers and I think it could be a bad precedent to compel a former president to come before the Congress.”
"I don’t think that’s a good idea." https://t.co/HcXTrAFcvM
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 15, 2020
“That would open up a can of worms, and for a variety of reasons, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Graham said.
“But we will do a lot of oversight over all things Crossfire Hurricane,” the senator finished.
“I am greatly concerned about the precedent that would be set by calling a former president for oversight,” said Sen. Graham. https://t.co/IPp2bl3JqU
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) May 15, 2020