“We will follow intelligence wherever it leads” | Senators talk tough on Russian investigation

by Itunuoluwa Adebo

The leaders of the Senate intelligence committee have pledged their investigation of Russian interference in last year’s presidential election will be independent and bipartisan.

In a show of unity on Wednesday, Republican senator Richard Burr and his Democratic counterpart Mark Warner told reporters that they owe it to America, and the world, to “follow the intelligence wherever it leads”. Their first public hearing takes place tomorrow, with former NSA chief Keith Alexander being the most prominent witness.

Burr, the committee chairman, at first deflected questions about alleged collusion between Trump’s associates and Moscow, insisting: “We would be crazy to try to draw conclusions from where we are in the investigation.”

But asked whether Trump was directly involved, he responded : “We know that our challenge is to answer that question for the American people in our conclusions.”

Warner also gave an insight into the extent of the covert Russian operation and said it was important to put the public on alert because of a fundamental threat to democracy, in the US and abroad.

The two senators said they also wanted to publicize Russia’s attempts to influence upcoming polls in Europe. Burr said it was safe to assume the Russians were “actively involved” in the forthcoming French election, adding: “We feel part of our responsibility is to educate the rest of the world what’s going on because it’s now into character assassination of candidates.”

Burr, who served as a security adviser to Trump’s campaign, confirmed that he voted for the Republican nominee. He also said “The investigation’s scope will go wherever the intelligence led it, so it was absolutely crucial to spend every day trying to separate fact from fiction.

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