Republican Senator Lindsay Graham says the lie at the FBI is not a "big event"

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said Sunday that lying at the FBI was not "a big event", as he was discussing the ongoing investigation into the collusion between the US and the US. Campaign team of Donald Trump and Russia.

Speaking with CBS animator John Dickerson on "Face the Nation," Graham said, "From a judicial standpoint, we found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

Pressed by Dickerson on his views on the progress of Special Advisor Robert Mueller's investigation of the president's associates, Graham downplayed recent convictions and plea agreements. In particular, he said the guilty plea of ​​George Papadopoulos, Trump's foreign policy adviser for a lie at the FBI, was not that important.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) meets with reporters before attending the Republican Politics Weekly Breakfast at Capitol Hill on April 17 in Washington, DC Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

"You have to look at the substance of what people have pleaded. Some people have pleaded to lie to the FBI as Papadopoulos and have spent two weeks in prison. So I do not see that [as] a big event, "said Senator GOP.

Referring to Friday's guilty plea by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Graham said Manafort "could have a lot of things or could be content with financial transactions."

He suggested that Michael Flynn, who briefly served as Trump's national security advisor and is a retired Lieutenant General of the US Army, "knows a lot". However, Graham insisted that he was not between Trump and the Russians. He went on to say that he relies on Mueller "to be honest and fair" while the investigation continues.

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The South Carolina politician has also tried to change the focus, criticizing the Democrats for not worrying about "corruption at the Justice Department and the FBI regarding the Clinton email survey." does anything to prevent the ongoing investigation of Russian collusion.

On September 7, George Papadopoulos and his wife Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos, a foreign policy advisor to President Donald Trump's election campaign, appear before the US District Court in Washington, DC MANDEL NGAN / AFP / Getty Images

"Not a Republican in the Senate did nothing to stop this investigation. The leaders of the House and Senate – are Republicans – are committed to ensuring that Mr. Mueller finishes his work, "he said.

Graham was a member of the House Judiciary Committee on the impeachment of former Democrat President Bill Clinton in 1998. During the 1999 debate, the senator said that Clinton could be removed from office. its functions [Congress] determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of reach in your role. . . because indictment is not a punishment. The impeachment concerns the cleaning of the office. The indictment is to restore the honor and integrity to the office. Although Clinton was indicted, he was not removed from office.