Graham: If I were Trump Jr.’s lawyer, ‘I’d be reluctant to put him back in this circus’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he would be reluctant to submit Donald Trump Jr. to further questioning from the Senate Intelligence Committee after the panel subpoenaed him in connection with its Russia investigation.

“I’m not his lawyer, so it’s up to him, but if I were his lawyer I’d be reluctant to put him back in this circus,” Graham, a staunch ally of President Trump, said on Capitol Hill Thursday.

The committee’s subpoena was the first to a child of the president.

{mosads}Trump Jr. previously testified behind closed doors to both the House and Senate intelligence panels as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Graham now chairs, in 2017.

Trump Jr. has said that he was “peripherally aware” of his father’s business interests in Russia, though the president’s former attorney Michael Cohen testified earlier this year that Trump Jr. was more involved in working to establish a Trump Tower in Moscow than his testimony indicated.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has been conducting its own investigation in parallel with special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian election interference in 2016.

Trump Jr. did not speak to the special counsel, who did not find sufficient evidence to prove that any Trump campaign associates conspired with the Russian government to meddle in the 2016 race.

A handful of Republicans have already slammed Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr’s (R-N.C.) decision to subpoena Trump Jr., saying Washington should move on from investigating Russian interference following the Mueller probe’s conclusion.

“The Mueller Report cleared @DonaldJTrumpJr and he’s already spent 27 hours testifying before Congress,” Sen Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who is up for reelection in 2020, tweeted Thursday. “Dems have made it clear this is all about politics. It’s time to move on & start focusing on issues that matter to Americans.”

I agree with Leader McConnell: this case is closed. The Mueller Report cleared @DonaldJTrumpJr and he’s already spent 27 hours testifying before Congress. Dems have made it clear this is all about politics. It’s time to move on & start focusing on issues that matter to Americans. https://t.co/11THs9LE0j

— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) May 9, 2019

“Apparently the Republican chair of the Senate Intel Committee didn’t get the memo from the Majority Leader that this case was closed…,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tweeted, referring to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s speech this week declaring the “case closed” on Mueller’s probe.

Apparently the Republican chair of the Senate Intel Committee didn’t get the memo from the Majority Leader that this case was closed… https://t.co/jvV5PIX266

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 8, 2019

Mueller did not find sufficient evidence to prove that any Trump campaign associates conspired with the Russian government to influence the 2016 race. Trump Jr. did not speak to the special counsel, but was mentioned in the report.

Updated at 1:02 p.m.