Lindsey Graham's latest 'deep state' conspiracy theory gets slapped down by Australian ambassador

Australia's ambassador to the United States on Thursday delivered a humiliating smackdown to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for his latest "deep state" conspiracy theory.

Earlier this week, Graham sent out a letter claiming that an Australian diplomat had been "directed to contact" former Trump foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos and "and relay information obtained from Papadopoulos regarding the campaign." The insinuation from Graham's letter was that Papadopoulos had purportedly been set up by the FBI in an effort to frame the Trump campaign for seeking Russian help to defeat Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in 2016.

In response to Graham's letter, Australian ambassador Joe Hockey accused Graham of misrepresenting the facts behind the Australian diplomat's actions.

"In your letter you made mention of the role of an Australian diplomat," Hockey wrote to Graham. "We reject your characterisation of his role."

Special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election found that the FBI had been contacted by a foreign diplomat in July 2016 to discuss the fact that a member of the Trump campaign "had received indications from the Russian government that it could assist the Campaign through the anonymous release of information damaging to" Hillary Clinton. It did not mention anything about that diplomat being "instructed" by American officials to meet with the campaign official.