Ranking House Intelligence member Adam Schiff and chairman Devin Nunes prepare to take their seats after a break during a hearing on March 20 on Russian meddling in the 2016 elections | Drew Angerer/Getty Images Russia probes could seep into 2018 US midterms The slow pace of investigations might be a boon to Democrats eager to keep the issue in the headlines.

The congressional investigations into President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia are off to such a sluggish start that they could stretch into next year’s midterm election season. That’s a silver lining for Democrats who have grumbled that investigators aren’t moving fast enough — but who would be delighted to see the issue in the headlines as voters head to the polls.

Interviews with more than a dozen lawmakers involved in the House and Senate Intelligence Committee investigations show there is no consensus on how long they should take. The interviews also show just how politicized these investigations have already become, which threatens to undermine Congress’ chance at determining what did or didn't happen in the 2016 campaign.

“Some of our Democratic colleagues would love to go into the midterms with this narrative still being out there,” said Republican Chris Stewart of Utah, a member of the House intelligence panel. He said any suggestion that his committee’s investigation should continue into next year is “nuts.”

“There’s absolutely no reason it should take a multi-year effort,” Stewart said.

But California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell said he expects the House probe to take “at least a year.” Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the No. 2 Democrat on the House Intelligence panel, pegged the timeline at about six months, but said that it could be much longer.

“We’ve got a pretty substantial witness list; we’ve got a lot documents,” Himes said, explaining that witness interviews would be a major time commitment.

Recent high-profile investigations into sensitive intelligence issues suggest the Russia probes could take years, not months.

“By and large, this will happen one person at a time,” he said. “The analogy is to a deposition, and, yeah, they’re going to take a lot of time. If you look at the Benghazi committee, these meetings can run four, five, six, seven hours.”

Recent high-profile investigations into sensitive intelligence issues suggest the Russia probes could take years, not months.

The House Intelligence Committee's investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attacks, for instance, took nearly two years; a subsequent House select committee investigation into Benghazi took more than two years. The Senate Intelligence Committee's exhaustive report on CIA torture practices in the George W. Bush-era took more than five years.

The House and Senate panels are still at the early stages of investigating Russia’s meddling in the presidential election, including potential collusion with Trump’s campaign. The probes have been bogged down by partisan spats, negotiations over witness lists and hearing schedules and a slew of logistical hurdles, to the frustration of many committee members.

Members of both panels have been making regular trips to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., where they’ve been confronted with reams of classified documents to review — and strict rules that force them to take notes by hand and leave their notebooks behind when they depart.

“We’ve got the responsibility to follow this in a meticulous way,” said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Warner declined to put a deadline on the probe. “I think we want it done as timely and quickly as possible,” he said. “I think this notion that there is some kind of arbitrary deadline that either side is setting — the sooner we can see all the witnesses, the sooner we get those scheduled, the better.”

The Russia investigations are already a political headache for Republicans, who have faced angry constituents at town halls demanding independent investigations into Trump’s ties to Moscow.

And outside Democratic groups are looking to keep the story on the front-burner, an effort that will only intensify if the investigations have not reached a conclusion before campaign season ramps up next year.

The Democratic opposition research group American Bridge, for instance, has spent more than $300,000 on digital and radio ads on the issue so far this year, according to the group’s vice president, Shripal Shah. American Bridge has also commissioned polls showing swing voters in key states are concerned about the controversy and want an independent probe.

"As long as this Russia thing is out there, it’s never going to go away” — Maryland representative Dutch Ruppersberger

Americans “overwhelmingly want a real, independent investigation of this scandal, and they are going to hold Republicans accountable for standing in the way solely in the name of partisan loyalty," Shah said.

Already, the Russia scrutiny has been damaging for the Trump White House, despite the slow pace of the congressional investigations.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions had to recuse himself from Justice Department probes into the issue; former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was ousted over his contacts with Russia’s ambassador; and House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who served on Trump’s transition team, was forced to step aside from his panel’s investigation after he sparked an outcry over his handling of it.

Flynn, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, longtime adviser Roger Stone and former campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page were recently sent requests by the Senate Intelligence Committee to provide all communications with Russian officials, the New York Times reported Friday.

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, a former ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said questions around Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election would continue to be politicized until they’re resolved.

“We’re a political society, it’s unfortunate,” said the Maryland congressman. “I would think Trump would want this to happen. … They’ll tell you in politics, if you have a rough situation, or something’s difficult, get it out on the table and move on. And that’s what I think needs to happen now. As long as this Russia thing is out there, it’s never going to go away.”