Sen. Angus King Angus KingShakespeare Theatre Company goes virtual for 'Will on the Hill...or Won't They?' On The Trail: How Nancy Pelosi could improbably become president Angus King: Ending election security briefings 'looks like a pre-cover-up' MORE (I-Maine) on Tuesday dismissed the notion that Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee have worked to slow the panel's investigation into alleged ties between members of President Trump's campaign and Russia.

"It's not going to be an easy straight-ahead, everything is going to go down in a simple way," King, who sits on the Intelligence panel, said on CNN's "New Day." "But I believe [committee Chairman] Richard Burr Richard Mauze BurrRep. Mark Walker says he's been contacted about Liberty University vacancy Overnight Defense: Trump rejects major cut to military health care | Senate report says Trump campaign's Russia contacts posed 'grave' threat Senate report describes closer ties between 2016 Trump campaign, Russia MORE understands — as I told him the other day — history has its eyes on us and him."

"I haven't seen evidence of Chairman Burr slow-walking this," he added. "If I do, I'm going to poke him."

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Both the Senate and House Intelligence committees are carrying out investigations into Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, as well as possible collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. The FBI is also conducting its own investigation.

But the House investigation was plunged into controversy last month after Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, abruptly announced that he had seen evidence indicating that the U.S. intelligence community collected incidental surveillance on members of Trump's transition team.

That announcement sparked a bitter episode of partisan fighting on the committee, leading Nunes to recuse himself from the Russia probe and some to question whether the committee was capable of carrying out its investigation impartially. That has put pressure on the Senate panel to conduct its review on a bipartisan basis.