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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S. C.) said he was “shocked” by the new Justice Department inspector general report on the FBI’s handling of the Clinton investigation, arguing that “FBI’s footprint in Washington needs to be reduced” because “institutions have been crippled.”
The South Carolina senator, also a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that while he doesn’t agree with President Donald Trump that the report “exonerates” him, though he does feel that it chips away at the credibility of the ongoing Russia investigation.
“The institution investigating President Trump took a real blow here,” Graham said during an interview on CNN. “You’ll be kidding yourself if you think this doesn’t do a lot of damage to the institutions that are now looking at the president. This gives a face to many of what the deep state looks like.”
CNN’s Kate Bolduan then told Graham that the IG report concludes “there is not a deep state.”
Graham argued that while he’s “been saying there is no a deep state,” the new report shows that the people investigating the president have “not just a political opinion, but a motivation.”
“Here’s the point you got to get, just back up, the institutions have been crippled,” Graham said. “Crippled?” Bolduan then asked. “Absolutely. If you don’t believe that the average American is going to think that the FBI is far more political than they ever believed, that’s crazy,” Graham responded.
“The FBI’s footprint in Washington needs to be reduced. There is too much of a Potomac fever attitude,” he added. “I’m shocked. I didn’t buy into this stuff. That, you know, all these people are out to get Trump. There is enough evidence now to prove to me that the FBI needs to be looked at really closely.”
Shortly after the report came out on Thursday, Trump claimed it “totally exonerates” him in the Russia investigation.
“The IG Report is a total disaster for Comey, his minions and sadly, the FBI. Comey will now officially go down as the worst leader, by far, in the history of the FBI. I did a great service to the people in firing him. Good Instincts. Christopher Wray will bring it proudly back!” the president wrote.
William is a Senior Congressional and Breaking News Reporter for IJR. Prior to that, he covered politics and breaking news at AOL.com, leading the sit… more
