US Senator Calls for Probe of Trump’s Russian Business Ties

South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham has announced that he wants to see a probe of US President Donald Trump’s business ties to Russia, and the president has responded by hiring the leading law firm in DC to send a certified letter asserting that he has no ties to the Kremlin.

When asked about Graham’s call for an investigation during Tuesday’s White House briefing, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer asserted that Trump is “fine with that.”

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) May 9, 2017

"The president obviously was aware of Senator Graham’s suggestion after he made it today and he’s fine with that," Spicer stated. "In fact he [Trump] has already charged a leading law firm in Washington, DC, to send a certified letter to Senator Graham to that point: that he has no connections to Russia."

On Monday, Graham asked former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper during a hearing if he had any concerns about Trump's dealings with Russia. Clapper said he preferred not to comment on the topic because it could be a subject of an existing investigation.

Appearing on CNN on Tuesday, Graham asserted that he would like to find out how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was conducting its probe and then possibly launch a separate inquiry. He added that he will steer clear, however, if it would interfere with the FBI investigation.

"This is nothing new here," Graham also told reporters at the Capitol. "I'm not a prosecutor. But if you ask me if I want to know if there are any Trump business ties to Russia that are inappropriate, the answer would be 'yes.'"

Graham also told CNN that he believes seeing Trump’s tax returns would be helpful, but that he is not ready to subpoena them yet.