Sen. Lindsey Graham said he told President Donald Trump that it was he who advised the late Sen. John McCain to turn over the Steele dossier of Trump-Russia allegations to the FBI, and that McCain deserves better than the way the president has been publicly disparaging him, CNN reported on Monday.
Graham rejected Trump's assertions that the Arizona Republican leaked the dossier to the press and helped bring about the Russia probe.
Trump renewed his attacks against McCain earlier this month, harshly criticizing him for his vote against a Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare and his decision to turn the Steele dossier over to the FBI, The Hill reported.
According to CNN, Graham said he “told the president it was not John McCain. I know because John McCain showed me the dossier. And I told him... Turn it over to somebody who's job it is to find these things out and John McCain acted appropriately" by immediately doing so.
The South Carolina senator said some people connected with McCain “did some things inappropriate but it was not John McCain" who gave it to the press.
Graham stressed that “John McCain is one of my closest friends in life, not just in politics. I want President Trump to be successful. He's been very good to me in the sense he's let me in his world. And I have some access to the president about things that matter to me and the country and I appreciate that."
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