Gowdy, Graham Express Frustration Over Trump Russian Ties

Two of South Carolina’s most prominent Republicans have expressed frustration over the Trump Administration’s possible Russian connection and the way in which new information keeps surfacing.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, who was tapped to be House oversight chairman last month, appeared on Fox News Tuesday and slammed the Trump administration, accusing those in the “Trump orbit” of having amnesia. 

“Someone close to the president needs to get everyone connected with that campaign in a room and say, ‘From the time you saw ‘Doctor Zhivago’ until the moment you drank vodka with a guy named Boris, you list every single one of those, and we are going to turn them over to the special counsel.’ Because this drip, drip, drip is undermining the credibility of this administration.”

Gowdy, who was born in Greenville and grew up in Spartanburg, is helping lead the House Intelligence Committee's probe of Russia's interference in the election and whether there was any collusion between Moscow and Trump aides.

"If you had a contact with Russia, tell the special counsel about it," Gowdy said Tuesday. "Don't wait until The New York Times figures it out!"

Sen. Lindsey Graham also had a strong reaction after reading Donald Trump Jr.’s email string in which Robert Goldstone, a music publicist, claimed a “Russian government lawyer” had “very high level and sensitive information” that was part of the Russian government’s support for the elder Trump’s candidacy.

“Thanks Rob, I appreciate that,” Trump Jr. replied. “If it’s what you say, I love it, especially later in the summer.”

Trump Jr. posted the emails on his Twitter feed Tuesday morning after the New York Times had informed him they were set to publish them.

"Anytime you're in a campaign and you get an offer from a foreign government to help your campaign, the answer is ‘no,’" Graham told reporters Tuesday.

"So, I don't know what Mr. Trump Jr.'s version of the facts are. Definitely -- he has to testify. That email is disturbing.

“We cannot allow foreign governments to reach out to anybody's campaign and say, ‘We'd like to help you.’ That is a nonstarter."