Too early to tell?

Graham: ‘Too early to tell’ if Whitaker good choice for attorney general

By ZACHARY WARMBRODT

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday cast doubt on whether he could support the confirmation of acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to lead the Justice Department if he were nominated for the post on a permanent basis.

The South Carolina Republican's perspective is critical because he is expected to chair the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee next year, and the panel will be responsible for vetting President Donald Trump's pick to succeed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Since being named to lead the Justice Department on a temporary basis, Whitaker has attracted criticism for his past attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Graham has tried to defend Mueller.

"I have nothing against him," Graham said of Whitaker on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I don't know if he's the best choice."

Graham said Whitaker "said some things that would be probably problematic to be confirmed" but that he had a "very solid résumé" and had shown professionalism.

"Too early to tell," he said.

Graham said a good choice would be former Attorney General Bill Barr.

"There are a lot of good names out there," he said. "I would just encourage the president to start 2019 as soon as we can, with a new attorney general that he has confidence in, and we can get confirmed."

Graham met with Whitaker last week and walked away confident that he would not interfere with the Mueller investigation.

"He said that he's going to support the regular order process," Graham said.