The leading Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is reiterating his call for an independent commission to investigate Russia’s election interference, saying that the body should also probe contact between Trump administration officials and Russia.

Sen. Ben Cardin Benjamin (Ben) Louis CardinPPP application window closes after coronavirus talks deadlock Congress eyes tighter restrictions on next round of small business help Senate passes extension of application deadline for PPP small-business loans MORE (D-Md.) told The Hill that a commission should look at the contact between former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, as well as any other connections between the Trump administration and Russian officials.

“Flynn is clearly part of the Russian connection to our election process,” Cardin said following an appearance at the Center for American Progress in Washington.

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Flynn resigned from his position late Monday, after reports surfaced that he discussed U.S. sanctions with the Russian ambassador ahead of Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Military leaders asked about using heat ray on protesters outside White House: report Powell warns failure to reach COVID-19 deal could 'scar and damage' economy MORE’s inauguration despite public denials by administration officials, including Vice President Pence.

In his resignation letter, Flynn disclosed that he had given “incomplete information” to Pence and others about his telephone calls with the ambassador. The FBI has been looking into Flynn’s contact with the Russian official.

“It’s not so much about what he did or didn’t do, it’s why these connections were being made and what was Russia’s motivation. It’s not so much Mr. Flynn’s motivations, but Russia’s motivations,” Cardin said Tuesday morning. “I am not anxious to hold him accountable for misleading the vice president. That doesn’t concern me as much as to why the Russian ambassador was doing what he was doing.”

Cardin and four other Democratic senators introduced legislation in early January to create an independent, nonpartisan commission with full-time staff to investigate Russian interference in the presidential election, similar to the body set up following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The intelligence community has concluded that Russia used cyber attacks and disinformation to undermine U.S. democracy and damage Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Virginia Democrat blasts Trump's 'appalling' remark about COVID-19 deaths in 'blue states' The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden asks if public can trust vaccine from Trump ahead of Election Day | Oklahoma health officials raised red flags before Trump rally MORE, Trump’s opponent, at the direction of President Vladimir Putin. Trump has been skeptical of the intelligence community’s findings.

Cardin said Tuesday that the proposed commission should also look into “whether there has been any other effort to compromise any of our key people” beyond the contact between Flynn and the Russian ambassador.

“We know Russia does that freely of business leaders. Have they done that with anyone else?” the senator added.

Cardin indicated that he believes the bill establishing the commission would have broad support, but said Republicans would need to put pressure on leadership to put it to a floor vote.