Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Sen. Richard Burr(R-NC), (L-R) Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, speak together during the Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill January 10, 2017. | Getty Senators set to huddle on Russia hacking probe

Key senators are planning to meet in the coming days to discuss the progress of their investigations into Russia’s meddling in November’s presidential election — inquiries that will delve into the explosive question of whether there were contacts between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is conducting the highest-profile investigation, but at least two other Senate panels, Armed Services and Foreign Relations, are also looking into the issue.


The Republican chairmen of the three committees and their Democratic counterparts had been planning to huddle this week, but they might postpone doing so until next week because Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) had a scheduling conflict, according to multiple sources involved in planning the meeting.

The group has met before to discuss their investigations and ensure they avoid stepping on one another’s toes.

The planned meeting comes amid reports from Moscow that the Kremlin may be cracking down on Russian intelligence analysts believed to have cooperated with the CIA, including charges of treason filed against two top cybersecurity officials, as The Guardian reported Tuesday.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, said he is determined to get to the bottom of Russia’s involvement in the presidential race. The intelligence panel’s investigation is still in its initial stages, he said, including working through questions such as whether he and Burr will need additional staff.

Burr and Warner issued a joint statement last month announcing the parameters of their probe into Russia’s involvement in the election, saying that among other things they would investigate “links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns.” They pledged to interview Trump administration officials and issue subpoenas “if necessary.”

The House Intelligence Committee is also investigating the issue. Neither panel has put a timeline on its investigation.

In an interview Tuesday, Warner said five committee staffers are dedicated to the investigation and that more could be added if needed.

“I think the intelligence professional staff on both the majority and minority are quite good,” the Virginia senator said. “I think if we need more, we’ve worked through some ideas on how we might need to bring in designees or others to backfill, because some of the staff we are using will be people who have other areas to cover.”

The meeting, he said, is designed to keep the leaders of other relevant committees informed.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t get — not just press, other members — but just folks on the street saying, ‘What’s going on here?’” Warner said. “We’ve got to get to the truth of what happened with the Russians, what if anything happened in terms of contacts between Russians and either one of the campaigns before the election and how we can prevent this in the future.”

Burr said he does not expect to add staffers or request a budget increase for the investigation, saying it could be done with existing committee resources.

One of the first issues they will face is ensuring that intelligence agencies are willing to hand over all documents deemed necessary to the investigation, according to Daniel Jones, lead investigator for the Intelligence Committee’s comprehensive 2014 report on CIA torture during the George W. Bush administration. Jones now runs a research and investigatory firm.

“It’s extremely important that they have access to all the materials, including source materials,” Jones said. “Clearly, this needs a serious and sober review, and I’m hoping the committees can conduct that.”

Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) are also looking into Russia’s election meddling, though their examinations are not expected to be as comprehensive as the intelligence panel’s. In addition, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has said the Judiciary panel’s Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee, which he chairs, could look into aspects of the issue.

“What we’ll be looking at is [Russia’s] efforts in other democracies to affect elections,” Corker said, referring to his panel’s involvement. “The Intelligence Committee, to me, is the one that’s going to dive deep on the issue.”

U.S. intelligence officials last month released a 25-page assessment of Russia’s role in the presidential election. It concluded that Russia sought to sway the election — using propaganda and through the hacking of the Democratic National Committee — first with a goal of undermining faith in democratic institutions and later with a goal of helping elect Donald Trump.

Soon after the assessment was released, BuzzFeed News published a “dossier” containing unsubstantiated allegations of collusion between Trump campaign aides and Moscow.

There is also other, substantiated, evidence of ties between Russia and Trump's former and current aides. For instance, Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort previously lobbied for a pro-Russian politician in Ukraine, and national security adviser Michael Flynn was photographed in 2015 sitting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a celebration in Moscow for the Russian-funded television network RT.

Russia's deputy foreign minister also said shortly after the November election that his government had been in touch with members of the Trump campaign — though, as Graham pointed out, there are legitimate reasons why a presidential campaign might be in contact with a foreign government.

Burr initially did not want to include Russia-Trump ties as part of his committee’s investigation into Russia’s election meddling but relented after Democrats threatened to boycott the probe if it wasn’t expanded.

McCain, who has joined Democrats to call for a special select committee to investigate the issue, signaled Tuesday he wasn't sure whether separate investigations run by committees would be able to get to the bottom of the issue.

“I don’t know,” McCain said. “I honestly don’t know.”