Hillary Clinton's former running mate Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., on Tuesday defended the dossier assembled on President Donald Trump, saying "every candidate" does opposition research, and noting that a conservative news site funded it.
"If you're asking about the dossier, that was funded by a conservative online publication, Washington Free Beacon," Kaine told CNN's "New Day."
The Free Beacon "hired a firm that was working with a British secret service agent, and when they decided to drop it, apparently we now know that some of the funds to continue the investigation were paid for by the Clinton campaign," the senator added.
"But we all do oppo research," Kaine said. "Every candidate does oppo research on their opponent. You can ask any candidate for office. They do it. And hiring a firm to do oppo research is pretty common practice. That's not any evidence of collusion. That's what's done."
He ended with an appeal for support for special counsel Robert Mueller to "get to the bottom of it all," asking both Democrats and Republicans to grant him "the complete latitude and resources to get to the bottom of this."
Kaine added that if Congress and Trump can agree on this, "then the nation will be well-served."
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