Lindsey Graham announces Senate Judiciary investigation into origins of Mueller probe

Apparently one Senate investigation just wasn't enough.

On Thursday, Senate Judiciary Chair Lindsey Graham (R-N.C.) announced his committee would be opening an investigation into Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI investigation into possible ties between President Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia. Graham's announcement comes just a few weeks after the Senate Intelligence Committee released its own report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, and months after the Department of Justice released its own report on the probe's origins.

Hearings on "all things related to Crossfire Hurricane" will begin in early June, Graham said Thursday. "Our first phase will deal with the government’s decision to dismiss" the case of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who Trump fired after he admitted to lying to the FBI. Flynn was indicted under former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe. The Justice Department moved to drop Flynn's charges last week after it concluded the FBI "conducted" an investigation into Flynn "without any legitimate investigative basis." The Senate Judiciary Committee will look into what Graham called "unmasking requests made by the Obama administration officials," but declined Trump's request to mandate former President Barack Obama be brought in.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Justice Department's inspector general did determine there were several flaws in the FBI's FISA applications to surveil a Trump aide, but said they didn't mean there was "political bias" in Mueller's investigation. The GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee meanwhile concluded Russia did try to interfere in the 2016 election on Trump's behalf.