Sens. Lindsey Graham and John Cornyn are urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to appoint a special counsel to investigate newly declassified intelligence tied to the Obama administration’s handling of Russian election interference claims in 2016.
Their request, expected to be formally announced Thursday morning, follows the Justice Department’s move to form a “strike force” focused on the same declassified material released this month by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The senators did not comment on the DOJ’s strike force but said an independent special counsel would best serve the country in light of the political sensitivities.
Gabbard’s disclosures challenge the long-standing narrative that Russia interfered to benefit President Trump’s 2016 campaign. At a press conference Wednesday, she accused the Obama administration of fabricating that conclusion and presenting it as fact.
Graham and Cornyn said the latest information reinforces the view that the Russia investigation was politically motivated, calling it a “hoax” designed to undermine Trump. Their statement comes just days after President Trump accused Barack Obama of treason and as the DOJ launches criminal probes into former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey.
