The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said he believes the American people will soon become “tired” of the investigations into Russian meddling if they’re not wrapped up by the end of the year.
“The notion for those who may be partisans in the crowd and say, ‘Gosh, if the Democrats take control, they’ll be able to really ramp these up,’ I think the American public will be tired of it if this is not wound down in this calendar year,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said during an appearance at Code Conference.
[Related: One year down, and it’s still Mueller time]
Sen. @MarkWarner on the Russia investigation: I think the American public will be tired of it if it does not wind down this year. #CodeCon pic.twitter.com/H0cF48PxsR
— Recode (@Recode) May 30, 2018
Warner and the Senate Intelligence Committee have been conducting an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, along with their House counterpart and the Senate Judiciary Committee. The House Intelligence Committee concluded its investigation in March.
The congressional probes are running alongside special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
“We’re trying to maintain our equilibrium at the same time we’re trying to protect Mueller and [Deputy Attorney General Rod] Rosenstein, where they have a lot more tools than we do,” Warner said. “They’re doing a criminal investigation. We’re doing a counterintelligence investigation.”
The Senate Intelligence Committee released the first installment in a series of reports stemming from its Russia probe this month. The report found the Russian government targeted the election systems in at least 18 states and determined the Department of Homeland Security’s response to counter the cyberthreat was “not adequate.”
President Trump has dismissed Mueller’s Russia probe as a “witch hunt.”
