Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Friday that he believes the FBI was using a “confidential informant” rather than a “spy” to keep tabs on the 2016 Trump campaign.
Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt asked Graham during a Friday interview if he believes President Donald Trump is correct to use the hashtag “spygate” to refer to reports that the FBI was using an informant to gather intel on his campaign. (RELATED: (Dems After Bipartisan Meeting: There Was No Spy In Trump Campaign, ‘Nothing Has Changed’)
Graham admitted that he isn’t sure if the use of a confidential informant was appropriate, but would not call the informant a “spy.”
“A confidential informant is not a spy,” Graham said, according to a show transcript. “I don’t know if there’s a reason to have a confidential informant following a campaign.”
“There should be some rules about surveilling a major party nominee’s campaign,” he added. “And there probably is not any.”
Hewitt asked specifically if he thinks Trump was wrong to call the informant a spy, and Graham said, “I don’t think he’s a spy.”