President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is aware of conspiracy theories circulating about the sudden death of his friend and ally, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C but declared “the FBI is wasting their time” investigating the matter.
What did Trump say?
The president was responding to reporters in the Oval Office who asked why FBI agents were at Graham’s home just blocks from the Capitol on Monday, following the 71-year-old senator’s death on Saturday night.
“I don’t see a lot of evil there,” Trump said. “I know there’s all sorts of conspiracy theories going along, and I think the FBI is wasting their time if they’re doing that.”
FBI Director Kash Patel had said Sunday that the FBI was “assisting local authorities,” as per CBS News. Asked why the FBI was involved, Trump said, “Well, I don’t know why, because I think, you know, he had a problem. His father had a very similar problem, as you know.” As per CBS News, Graham’s father died of a heart attack at 69.
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What the medical examiner found
Washington’s chief medical examiner said a preliminary examination of Graham found “aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease,” which is a rupture of the aorta caused by hardening of the arteries.
Authorities are still awaiting results of toxicology and other testing.
Trump said he had reviewed all the medical reports related to Graham’s death and had received a briefing from his White House doctors about what happened. He said he was aware Graham’s father had also died of heart complications at a relatively young age. “They say it’s almost undetectable. You can detect it if you have a very bad back. That’s a sign. It’s a bad sign,” Trump said. “So if anybody has a bad back … that’s one of the primary signs. And he would tell me he had a bad back, but little did anyone realize it was for that. So, when that bursts, which it did, it bursts.”
Trump also said, “I wish he took better care of himself,” adding that Graham’s condition was “very hard to detect,” as per CBS News.
Multiple sources told CBS News Graham had complained of chest pains.
Also Read: Inside Lindsey Graham’s bond with ‘devastated’ sister Darline Nordone: ‘He was always my parent’
Trump rejects conspiracy theories about Graham’s death
Graham had just returned from a trip to Ukraine and his hardline stances against Russia and Iran had prompted online speculation that a foreign actor may have been involved in his death. Trump sought to dismiss this speculation, saying, “So I don’t see a lot of evil there. I know there’s all sorts of conspiracy theories going along. And I don’t think the FBI – I think the FBI’s wasting their time if they’re doing that.”
As per NBC, On Monday afternoon, nearly 20 FBI and other federal agents gathered outside Graham’s row house on Capitol Hill. Multiple FBI agents entered the home and were seen taking photographs but did not appear to be removing items.
