Senator Lindsey Graham pushed back strongly during a tense interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, defending Tulsi Gabbard’s recent claim that the Obama administration intentionally altered intelligence findings to frame Donald Trump during the 2016 election. The discussion centered on newly declassified documents Gabbard referenced, which she says prove former President Obama directed agencies to misrepresent Russia’s involvement in favor of Hillary Clinton.
Graham stood by Gabbard’s assertions and called for a new special counsel to investigate the allegations. He insisted the original Russia investigation was politically driven and failed to uncover key elements now coming to light. When pressed on his previous acknowledgment that Russia interfered to help Trump, Graham said the emerging evidence paints a far more manipulated narrative than was previously reported.
Despite Welker’s references to past reports that found no wrongdoing by Obama, Graham maintained that those investigations were incomplete. He clarified that he is not calling for criminal charges against the former president but stressed that the American people deserve the full truth about what happened behind the scenes.
The fiery exchange underscores renewed GOP efforts to revisit the origins of the Russia probe, with growing calls among Republicans to hold former officials accountable based on what they describe as newly uncovered evidence.