Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas are following President Donald Trump’s command to distract from the Epstein files by going after President Barack Obama.
Both lawmakers are now calling for a special counsel to probe whether Obama committed treason through the investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election, which consumed much of Trump’s first term.
“For the good of the country, Senator [Cornyn] and I urge Attorney General Bondi to appoint a special counsel to investigate the extent to which former President Obama, his staff and administration officials manipulated the U.S. national security apparatus for a political outcome,” Graham wrote on X Thursday.
Graham and Cornyn are referring to the ridiculous lie cooked up by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who baselessly accused Obama of a “treasonous conspiracy” in which he “manufactured intelligence” about Russian election interference in 2016 to “subvert the will of the American people” by “trying to usurp the President from fulfilling the mandate bestowed upon him by the American people.”
Trump then directed GOP lawmakers to spread the ridiculous conspiracy theory to distract from the Epstein files scandal, which his administration created itself when it said that there are no documents in the government’s possession that incriminate powerful third parties.
“You should mention that every time they give you a question that’s not appropriate. Just say, ‘Oh, by the way, Obama cheated on the election.’ You’ll watch the camera turn off instantly,” Trump ordered GOP lawmakers.
The Associated Press published a report on Thursday all but calling Gabbard and Trump’s accusations bullshit. Multiple probes into the Russia investigation “either concluded—or accepted the conclusion—that Russia embarked on a campaign to interfere in the election through the use of social media and hacked material,” according to the AP.
In fact, one of those probes was overseen by Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
As for Graham and Cornyn’s new request, if appointing a special counsel to probe this non-story sounds familiar to you, that’s because it is.
Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr had already appointed a special counsel in October 2020—just before the election Trump went on to lose—to probe the Russia investigation.
The special counsel’s name was, as you might recall, John Durham.
Bill appointed Durham to, “investigate whether any federal official, employee, or any other person or entity violated the law in connection with the intelligence, counter-intelligence, or law-enforcement activities directed at the 2016 presidential campaigns, individuals associated with those campaigns, and individuals associated with the administration of President Donald J. Trump, including but not limited to Crossfire Hurricane and the investigation of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, Ill,” according to the document Burr filed at the time.
Durham ultimately charged three people as a result of his probe, two of whom were acquitted on charges that they lied to the FBI, and the other pleaded guilty. Durham then released a big nothing burger report in 2023 before sailing off into the sunset as a gigantic failure.
But now, Graham and Cornyn are trying to get a new special counsel involved—as if that would uncover anything different.
Of course, Cornyn has other motivations here.
He is in an existential primary battle against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has accused Cornyn of not being pro-Trump enough. By calling for a special counsel, Cornyn is trying to get on Trump’s good side and maybe even earn an endorsement, which could revive what currently looks to be a doomed reelection effort.
Ultimately, this is all just a ridiculous distraction from the real story, which is that Trump—who was told that his name is in the Epstein files—is trying to bury the scandal to save his own skin.