Sens. Lindsey Graham and Sheldon Whitehouse Thursday announced a bipartisan Judiciary subcommittee investigation into Russian efforts to meddle in elections, both in the U.S. and abroad.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican and vocal critic of several of President Trump’s first moves, is teaming up with Whitehouse, a liberal Democrat from Rhode Island, to launch the probe of Moscow’s efforts to influence elections. Graham and Whitehouse serve respectively as the chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary subcommittee on crime and terrorism.
“Our goal is simple – to the fullest extent possible, we want to shine a light on Russian activities to undermine democracy,” they said in a joint statement. “While some of our efforts will have to be held behind closed doors due to security concerns, we also hope to have an open discussion before the American people about Russia’s strategies to undermine democracy.”
“Our efforts will be guided by the belief that we have an obligation to follow the facts wherever they may lead,” they added.
The probe overlaps with the work of the Senate Armed Services and both the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, all of which previously announced investigations into Russian cyber-attacks on the Democratic National Committee and others during the 2016 presidential election.
The Graham-Whitehouse probe has four main goals:
- Gain a full understanding of the American intelligence community’s assessment that Russia did take an active interest and play a role in the recent American elections.
- Learn more about the methods Russia has used to target democratic nations and elections.
- Explore possible avenues to help prevent and deter future foreign influences from impacting American elections and institutions.
- Assure that Congress provides the FBI the tools it needs to keep its investigative work protected from political influence.
