--- title: Lindsey Graham: Trump Didn't Collude With Russia or Staff description: Sen. Lindsey Graham said he doesn't believe Trump colluded with the Russians because "I don't think he colludes with his own staff" canonical: https://time.com/4808105/lindsey-graham-trump-russia/ author: Madeline Farber article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-06T20:58:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:17:39.740Z article:section: Politics og:title: Lindsay Graham Doesn't Think President Trump Colluded With the Russians og:description: "I don't think he colludes with his own staff," he said og:url: https://time.com/4808105/lindsey-graham-trump-russia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda80a28b11dff99a/6988cc7b97cdff4c096b09c0/lindsey-graham-russia-hearing.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Holds Hearing On Russia Interference In The 2016 Election og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lindsay Graham Doesn't Think President Trump Colluded With the Russians twitter:description: "I don't think he colludes with his own staff," he said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda80a28b11dff99a/6988cc7b97cdff4c096b09c0/lindsey-graham-russia-hearing.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Lindsey Graham: Trump Didn't Collude With Russia. He Doesn't Even Collude With His Own Staff by [Madeline Farber](https://time.com/author/madeline-farber/) ## Madeline Farber Jun 6, 2017 8:58 PM UTC  Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, makes an opening statement during a hearing with former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates in Washington, D.C., on May 8, 2017. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, makes an opening statement during a hearing with former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates in Washington, D.C., on May 8, 2017.Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Madeline Farber](https://time.com/author/madeline-farber/) ## Madeline Farber Jun 6, 2017 8:58 PM UTC Sen. [Lindsey Graham](http://time.com/4778467/lindsey-graham-trump-russia-investigation-twitter/) (R-S.C.) said Tuesday that he doubted that President Donald Trump’s campaigned conspired with the Russians to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. “I don’t believe Trump colluded with the Russians because I don’t think he colludes with his own staff,” he said, according to Bloomberg reporter[ Steven Dennis](https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/872173200700051461). This isn’t the first time Graham has been outspoken about the intelligence findings that showed Russian operatives tried to interfere in the election. During a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing in May, for example, the South Carolina senator said that there was “no doubt in his mind” that the Russians were involved. > [](https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/872173200700051461) “I think every American should be concerned about what the Russians did. From my point of view, there’s no doubt in my mind it was the Russians involved in all the things I just described — not some 400-pound guy sitting on a bed, or any other country,” Graham said at the time,[ referring to Trump’s insinuations that the hacker might be someone working out of their basement.](http://time.com/4771426/lindsey-graham-election-interference-400-pound-hacker/?iid=sr-link2) “Russia is up to no good when it comes to democracies all over the world.” And just a few days later, Graham said that Trump should [stop tweeting](http://time.com/4778467/lindsey-graham-trump-russia-investigation-twitter/) about the Russia investigation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4808105/lindsey-graham-trump-russia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4808105/lindsey-graham-trump-russia/"},"headline":"Lindsey Graham: Trump Didn't Collude With Russia. 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