Graham Avoids Engaging In Trump’s Bogus ‘Obamagate’ Conspiracy Theory

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) attends the State of the Union address in the chamber of the House of Representatives on February 4, 2020. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Senate Judiciary Committee chair Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of President Donald Trump’s most stalwart allies, poured cold water on the idea of pursuing Trump’s baseless conspiracy theory about former President Barack Obama on Monday.

Though Graham is currently probing Trump’s complaints that the FBI’s Russia investigation was aimed at sabotaging the President’s campaign, the GOP senator told Politico that his committee likely won’t get Obama involved.

“I’m not anticipating calling President Obama,” Graham said.

Fellow Judiciary Committee member Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) also wasn’t sold on the idea.

“I understand why the President feels like he’s under assault,” he told Politico. “But I think we need to do our own independent investigation.

Over the past 24 hours, Trump has been peddling an evidence-free “Obamagate” conspiracy theory that alleges his predecessor engineered the Russia probe in 2016, which got former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn indicted, to undermine the then-incoming Trump administration.

Trump also accused Obama of committing “the biggest political crime in American history” on Monday without providing any details or evidence. When Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker asked what exactly he was referring to, Trump offered little explanation, only that “some terrible things happened, and it should never be allowed to happen in our country again.”

“You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody,” he told Rucker. “All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours.”

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