Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham Monday said the FBI’s investigation into alleged ties between President Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia was a “criminal enterprise.”
Mr. Graham’s remarks came hours after the Justice Department inspector general concluded the FBI made serious mistakes and omitted key evidence when it applied for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to monitor former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
“It became a criminal enterprise to defraud the FISA court and continue an operation against President Trump,” the South Carolina Republican said. “These are statements I don’t make lightly.”
The FBI had relied upon unverified information from ex-British spy Christopher Steele when it applied for the warrant to wiretap Mr. Page. One of Mr. Steele’s sub-sources disavowed the information, but that information was kept from the FISA court.
“What they did from that point on, this whole endeavor became a criminal conspiracy to defraud the court and trample on the rights of an American citizen, Carter Page,” Mr. Graham said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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