Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday that he’s confident that acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will assert “no political influence” on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation despite his past criticism of the investigation.
“I am confident the Mueller investigation will be allowed to come to a good, solid conclusion — that there will be no political influence put on Mr. Mueller by Mr. Whitaker to do anything other than Mr. Mueller’s job. I’m confident that Mr. Mueller will allowed to do his job without interference,” Graham said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
President Trump last week appointed Whitaker as acting attorney general after forcing the resignation of Jeff Sessions.{mosads}
Democrats have voiced concern that Whitaker may try to interfere with or end Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Whitaker, who in his new role oversees that investigation, previously said the investigation had “gone too far” and once suggested that a new attorney general should reduce funding for the investigation.
Graham on Sunday also dismissed the idea that, given those past comments, Whitaker should recuse himself from the investigation.
“You don’t recuse somebody because they have opinions different than the people they’re overseeing. Trust me, there’s politics abounds when it comes to the Mueller investigation that Trump’s guilty no matter what Mueller finds,” he said.
“The bottom line here that Mr. Mueller will be allowed to do his job without political interference by Whitaker. Mr. Whitaker, I think, is legally qualified and otherwise qualified to oversee this investigation until a new attorney general is appointed, and I think that will happen early next year,” Graham added.