Lindsey Graham says more bombshells will emerge after Durham review of Mueller's Russia probe
It’s a season of bombshells. After a spate of challenges left President Donald Trump embattled and a series of tell-all books threw light on some uncomfortable truths related to him and his administration, there could be more surprises, if the words of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham are any indication.
The 65-year-old Graham, who is a senator from South Carolina, recently revealed that a huge bombshell is about to drop in the wake of the review of the Russia probe that has rocked American politics for the entire period of Trump’s first term. Last week, Graham responded to the sudden resignation of Nora Dannehy, a top aide to US Attorney John Durham, from the justice department allegedly under political pressure. Durham is probing the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation and there were indications that the investigators were being pressured to release the results before November 3 when Trump’s electoral fate will be determined.
After reports surfaced that devices that belonged to Mueller’s team were wiped before they could be examined, Graham said more revelations would be made by next week. Speaking to Fox News’s Sean Hannity last week, the veteran senator said: “You think you are mad about the phones being wiped? Stay tuned. We’ll talk in about 10 or 12 days and we’ll see if there is something else you can get mad about.”
Mobile phones 'wiped' during Russia probe
Justice department documents showed mobile phones on Mueller’s probe team were “wiped” during the Russia probe and according to Graham, the papers exposed a “pretty obvious” double standard. “We cannot live in a country where this is tolerated. Trump-Russia, look how much money they spent, how many agents were involved in investigating all things Trump and Russia, how many subpoenas issued, how many lives turned upside down,” he said.
As per the documents, several dozens of phones were wiped of information — the reasons being forgotten passcodes, irreparable screen damages, internal deletion, etc. The data were removed before the justice department’s Office of Inspector General could examine the devices.
Meanwhile, on Monday, September 14, a source having information about the matter told Fox News that rumors over Dannehy’s exit came over an “echo chamber trying to make things look bad” for Attorney General Bill Barr. It also said that Dunnehy “came in for a brief job”.
The allegations over Trump-Russia collusion have continued to be a major controversy in the country’s politics. While Trump repeatedly attacked the probe as a witch hunt against him, he also accused the Barack Obama-Joe Biden team that was in office before his arrival of spying on his campaign and committing treason. “They lied. They cheated. They leaked. They got caught. They spied on my campaign. Never in history has there been anything like this. 'It's treason, and other words can be used also,” Trump has remarked in the past. He called Obama's alleged conspiracy to derail his presidency as "Obamagate". Graham, however, did not support Trump's idea of calling Obama to testify before the Congress saying it would set up a bad precedent.
In May 2019, Attorney General William Barr appointed Durham to review the origins of the Russia investigation and to see if intelligence collection involving the president’s campaign was “lawful and appropriate”. During the course of his investigation, Durham has quizzed former law-enforcement and intelligence officials, including former CIA director John Brennan, about decisions that were made during the course of the earlier probe. Dannehy was a top member of the team and was present for the interviews with the top officials, including Brennan.