Graham: Report that Trump dictated son’s statement ‘bothers me a lot’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said early Tuesday that he was bothered by a report that President Trump dictated a misleading statement about his son’s meeting last year with a Russian lawyer.

“It bothers me a lot,” Graham told NBC’s “Today” show.

“Because, one, he put his son in jeopardy. Now we have to wonder about what Don Jr.’s team will tell you about what he actually did.”

{mosads}Graham said if it is true that the president was trying to cover up the truth about the meeting, that was a “bad decision by the president.”

“Which will make us ask more questions,” he said.

“When you get caught in a lie about one thing, it makes it hard to just say let the other stuff go.”

The Washington Post reported Monday night that Trump had dictated the statement about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting. The statement was ultimately issued to The New York Times by Trump Jr.

Trump dictated the statement on July 8, while he was en route back to the United States from the Group of 20 summit in Germany, according to the Post.

The statement about a meeting Trump Jr. had with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign said it was “not a campaign issue at the time.” It said the meeting had been primarily about Russian adoption policy.

But a few days later, Trump Jr. released a chain of emails detailing his conversations in setting up the meeting with a Russian lawyer who he was told had compromising information on then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.