Trump says FBI is ‘wasting their time’ if they’re pursuing conspiracy theories in Graham death investigation

By Betsy Klein, Holmes Lybrand, Manu Raju, Alison Main, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump downplayed the idea Tuesday that Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death was a result of any nefarious activity, saying the FBI is “wasting their time” if they’re pursuing conspiracy theories about the matter.

According to four law enforcement sources who spoke with CNN, investigators have no indication that Graham died from unnatural or nefarious causes. One of the sources said local police are conducting a normal review after someone dies, and the FBI has just offered their resources if necessary.

“I know there’s all sorts of conspiracy theories going along, and I don’t think the FBI — I think the FBI is wasting their time if they’re doing that,” Trump said when asked why the FBI was looking into the death or if he had gotten any updates.

The medical examiner has said preliminarily that Graham suffered an aortic dissection – a tear in his artery that is life threatening in most cases. Commentators online have suggested more sinister theories. Far-right activist Laura Loomer, for example, pointed to Graham having just returned from Ukraine, where he pushed for sanctions against Russia, before his death Saturday. GOP Sen. John Cornyn called for the release of a toxicology report to “rule out any foul play.”

Some in the law enforcement community felt FBI Director Kash Patel added fuel to the fire when he cryptically posted on X following Graham’s death that the FBI was “assisting local authorities and has made every necessary resource available.” And the public confusion was compounded when FBI agents were seen entering Graham’s home in Washington, DC, on Monday – with no clear indication as to why, as sources had indicated previously there weren’t signs of foul play.

Neither Patel nor the FBI has publicly clarified the director’s statement. Sources told CNN that Patel’s post was meant to reference the normal review process law enforcement takes following a lawmaker’s death.

Much of what is known publicly from those who interacted with Graham in the hours before his death does not point to any foul play.

GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville said one of his staffers was with Graham’s scheduler Saturday evening when the South Carolina Republican called the scheduler to complain of chest pains – which could be a symptom of an aortic dissection – and asked her to call for emergency services.

“Lindsey called, called basically, said, ‘Listen, I’m having chest pains. You know, I need to do something,’” Tuberville told reporters on Monday, relaying the account of those involved. CNN also previously reported that emergency responders were dispatched to a DC address for Graham around 8:30 pm ET for a report of someone suffering chest pains, according to audio of the dispatch on Broadcastify.

Several people have said Graham sounded OK in their interactions with him before he died.

Trump has said he talked to Graham on the phone before his death, and Graham indicated he was tired from the trip but otherwise seemed fine. Sen. Katie Britt told CNN she also spoke with Graham this weekend – after he spoke with Trump – and he was “so excited about getting the White House onboard with the Russian sanctions bill.” She said she had no sense anything was amiss.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal offered a similar account to CNN.

“He sounded absolutely fine,” said Blumenthal, noting he had talked to Graham on Friday and Saturday. “In fact, better than fine.”

Trump said Tuesday an aortic tear is “very hard to detect” and that he has had White House doctors explain the diagnosis to him.

“When that bursts, which it did — it burst — there’s not much, so I don’t see a lot of evil there,” he said.

He added of his friend: “I wish he took better care of himself.”

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CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.