Sen. Lindsey Graham on Thursday slammed as "absurd" the idea of Russian officials questioning certain U.S. officials on possibly interfering in the Kremlin's affairs and said he would "absolutely not" support subpoenaing the U.S. interpreter on the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki on Monday.
"The concept of allowing the Russians to interview a former ambassador of Russia, United States ambassador to Russia, is absurd," the South Carolina Republican, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters at the Capitol.
"The concept of letting American citizens being investigated for crimes that are just I think are jokes is absurd.
"I challenge you to find one member of the House and Senate that believe this is a good idea," he said.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday declined to rule out the Kremlin’s request to question the former U.S. ambassador, Michael McFaul, and other Americans.
McFaul, who served in the Obama administration, has long ripped Moscow on its human rights record.
"The whole point is that for the administration to even entertain this shows me how naive they are about what is actually going on in Russia in terms of their legal system," Graham said.
In addition, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire proposed brining the President Donald Trump's translator from the State Department, Marina Gross, before Congress to testify about his private meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin before their news conference in Finland.
Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Wednesday that he was investigating whether the move was appropriate.
Graham attacked the idea, telling reporters he would "absolutely not" support a subpoena for the translator and ripped Trump for not disclosing any agreements he might have reached with Putin.
"That will be the last time you ever have a foreign leader meet with the president of the United States privately," Graham said on the notion of a subpoena. "There may be times where we need to do that.
"What I do expect is for the administration and the president eventually to tell us were any agreements reached.
"I don't care what they talked about. I care about what we do.
"Here's what I want to know: What did you agree to do with him and give us a chance to see if we think it makes any sense."
Overall, Graham called the summit a "missed opportunity" on Trump's part because he did not strongly confront Putin on election meddling and other issues.
"We have to deal with him," Graham said of the Kremlin leader. "I don't mind him dealing with Russia, but I want to deal from a position of strength.
"This was a missed opportunity," he said. "It came across as weak."
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