Politics

Sen. Graham Says Investigating Hunter Biden ‘Doesn’t Make Me A Russian Agent’

Fox News

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Republican South Carolina Lindsey Graham said Friday in Washington that he intends to investigate Hunter Biden’s activities while he sat on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference during the Senate impeachment trial, Graham berated the media for not bothering to ask questions about Biden’s lucrative work for Burisma and spoke of a “double standard” in media coverage. “The president is frustrated, I am frustrated that we live in a country where only one side gets looked at. And I am telling you now that I am going to look at this if nobody else does. That doesn’t make me a Russian agent.”

The senator also said President Donald Trump had every right to ask the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to cooperate with an investigation into corruption, during a July 25, 2019 telephone call between the two leaders that sparked an impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives. (RELATED: Graham Rips Democrats Over Trump Impeachment Process: ‘I Wouldn’t Cooperate’)

“I just don’t buy the idea that it’s wrong for the president to insist that the Ukrainians cooperate with us on an investigation.”

“Here’s what I think is good foreign policy. For [Trump] today to keep insisting that we know what the vice president and his son did in the Ukraine — did he do it? Did Biden do it in such a way so he is compromised?”

Graham noted that three Democratic senators, Patrick Leahy, Robert Menendez, and Dick Durbin pressured the Ukrainians to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller when he was investigating alleged collusion between the Trump election campaign and Russia. The subsequent Mueller report found no evidence for the claim. (RELATED: McConnell Makes Change To Senate Impeachment Rules)

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller testifies before the House Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on July 24, 2019. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller testifies before the House Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on July 24, 2019. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

“I think the president believes there is a double standard. I believe the president believes that he went through holy hell. And I believe the same thing.”