Sen. Lindsey Graham says Americans will soon know the ‘ugly and damning’ truth about Russia probe

Republican senator Lindsey Graham said Sunday that the Inspector General’s report on how the investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia began will be ‘ugly and damning’ for the Department of Justice. 

During an interview with Fox News, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Graham said, the Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report is ‘going to be ugly and damning regarding the DOJ handling of the Russian probe.’ 

Graham said that Horowitz’s report is now expected to be released in the coming weeks and he is determined to have the report released so that the American people can find out what it says about the Russia probe. 

When asked why the report, which was expected to have been submitted months ago, was delayed for so long, Graham said that ‘Every time you turn around you find something new.’ 

He added that ‘Mr. Horowitz is doing a very in-depth dive’ into how the FBI made use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in an effort to obtain a warrant allowing them to monitor Trump’s former campaign adviser Carter Page. 

Graham said that when Horowitz submits his report, the DOJ will evaluate it for classified information, but that he wants to ‘declassify as much as possible.;

‘I want the American public to hear the story, I want all this information to come out,’ Graham said. ‘I don’t want people to believe what I say about it, I want them to read for themselves how bad it was.’ 

Graham said he wants ‘people to see how off the rails this investigation got’ and that  he wants ‘people to be held accountable.’

Graham said he wants to declassify as much of Horowitz’s (pictured) report as possible so that the American people could ‘read for themselves how bad’ the Russia probe investigation was

Graham also said that he wants former Trump campaign staffer George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee

Graham said that he is curious about the CIA’s role in the Russia probe and whether President Obama knew that a counterintelligence investigation had been opened into Trump’s campaign (Trump is picture here with Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump)

‘I am patient,’ Graham said. ‘I am not in a hurry, I want to do it right.’

Graham said that he wanted George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign staffer who pleaded guilty to making false claims to the FBI, to testify in front of his Senate Judiciary Committee after Horowitz’s report is released. 

The senator said he believes that Papadopoulos’ interview transcripts reveal that he was ‘clearly’ not working with the Russians as has been claimed. 

Papadopoulos is said to have been responsible for initiating the Russia probe by telling an Australian diplomat that he had heard that Russia had damaging information about Hillary Clinton. The diplomat was said to have alerted US officials about what the ex-campaign staffer said. 

Graham also noted that he believe the FBI’s application for a FISA warrant was a ‘fraud on the court’ because the FBI relied in Christopher Steele’s dossier to get the warrant, even though Steele was, what Graham called, ‘an unreliable informant’ who disliked Trump. 

When Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo asked him ‘Who do you think is the mastermind of this? Whose idea was it to insert Donald Trump into Russia meddling?’ Graham responded: ‘I really am very curious about the role the CIA played here.’

‘This whole intelligence operation, what role did the CIA play?’ Graham asked. ‘Who knew about this in the White House? Here’s a question: Was President Obama briefed on the fact that they were opening up a counterintelligence investigation against the Trump campaign? I’d like to know that.’