The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned Wednesday that U.S. political campaigns need to be worried and vigilant about Russia’s effort to meddle in U.S. elections, during an update he gave on his committee’s investigation into Russia.
“We’re developing a clearer picture of what happened,” Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., told reporters Wednesday.
“What I will confirm is the Russian intelligence service is determined, clever, and I recommend that every campaign and every election official take this very seriously as we move into this November’s election, and as we move into preparation for the 2018 election,” he said.
Burr and the top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said they are still working on the investigation, and weren’t ready to talk about deeper conclusions. Burr noted that the committee has 25 interviews booked this month alone, but said he hopes the investigation could wind down “soon.”
Given that schedule, Burr refused to answer questions about whether President Trump is right when he says the story about his alleged ties to Russia are a “hoax.”
Burr said the Russia investigation has expanded slightly since it was first started in January, but said the committee is not yet ready to close the investigation. He said there was a general consensus among staff to trust a the intelligence community’s initial report on Russia’s effort to influence the 2016 election, but more fact-checking should be done.
He also noted that the committee’s effort to investigate the “Comey memos” has reached a likely end. “We have exhausted every person we can talk to” on those memos, which former FBI Director James Comey released after he was fired by Trump. Those memos detail Comey’s recollections of his discussions with Trump, who some believe fired Comey in order to derail efforts to probe Trump’s alleged ties to Russia.
“Questions that you might have surrounding Comey’s firing are better answered by the general counsel or by the Justice Department, not the select committee of intelligence in the United States Senate,” Burr said.
Burr also said committee has interviewed seven people related to the “Mayflower” meeting, the hotel meeting in 2016 that included Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner as they supposedly sought damaging info on the Clinton campaign.
Still to come in the course of the investigation is an open meeting in November with representatives from Facebook and Twitter. That hearing will explore the extent to which Russia may have worked to create ads or spread propaganda on these social media outlets.
