President-elect Barack Obama is standing by his nominee for Treasury secretary, saying this afternoon that his tax problems were unintentional and had been corrected.

And notably, Sen. Lindsay Graham, who joined Obama to brief him on his overseas trip with VP-elect Joe Biden, said that the matter was not damning.

"Now's not the time to think in small political terms," Graham said. "I think he's the right guy."

Indeed, Obama said that Geithner's nomination was initially heralded across the spectrum because he was "somebody who was uniquely qualified" to handle the economy.

"Is this an embarrassment for him, yes. He said so himself," Obama said.

In discussing his trip, Biden expressed concern about Afghanistan, saying the situation there has not improved.

"Things are going to get tougher in Afghanistan before they get better," he said. But he praised the "amazing" competence of U.S. commanders there.

Graham, a John McCain stalwart during the presidential campaign, said he was still disappointed by the result of the election but spoke of how important the bipartisan trip was.

"The campaign's over but the war is not," Graham said.

Obama and Biden were due to visit the Supreme Court after the photo op.