參議院委員會承諾徹查俄羅斯對美大選影響

On the eve of closely watched public hearings, the Republican chairman and top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee pledged an exhaustive and impartial probe of Russian meddling in last year’s election, and any possible collusion by President Donald Trump’s inner circle.

“This investigation’s scope will go wherever the intelligence leads it,” Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, said at a news conference Wednesday. “We will get to the bottom of this,” concurred Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the committee’s ranking Democrat.

Burr said an "uNPRecedented amount of documents" have been received, and the committee is in "constant negotiation" with the intelligence community to gain access to additional material. He added that there will be at least 20 interviews to conduct, including with President Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who volunteered to speak with the panel.

Neither Burr nor Warner revealed any conclusions reached so far, except Russia’s aims. “Vladimir Putin’s goal is a weaker United States,” Warner said. “Weaker economically, weaker globally. And that should be a concern to all Americans regardless of party affiliation.”

Until now, the House Intelligence Committee had taken the lead in the Russia probe. But that committee cancelled open hearings this week amid a firestorm surrounding its chairman, Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, who personally briefed President Trump on classified material he had not yet shared with the committee.

With the House panel seemingly in disarray, its Senate counterpart is now in the spotlight. Burr said he cast his ballot for Trump last November, but he denied that party loyalty would color his work.

Even so, a growing number of Democrats say the full truth may never come to light in Republican controlled legislative committees.

The White House has complained of a smear campaign against the president’s team, but acknowledged the need for investigations to proceed.在受到密切關注的公開聽證會前夕，美國參議院情報委員會的共和黨主席和資深民主黨人承諾對俄羅斯對去年美國大選的影響，以及川普總統核心團隊與俄羅斯的任何可能的聯繫進行詳盡無誤的調查。

情報委員會主席、來自北卡羅來納州的共和黨人理查德·伯爾週三在新聞發佈會上說：“情報指向那裏，這項調查的範圍就將包括哪裏。” 委員會最資深的民主黨成員、弗吉尼亞州參議員馬克·華納附和說，“我們將深入調查到底”。

伯爾表示，已經收到了“前所未有數量的文件”，委員會正在不斷與情報部門談判，以獲取更多的資料。他補充說，將進行至少20次約談，包括對川普總統的顧問和女婿賈里斯·庫什納，庫什納自願與該委員會會面。

除了俄羅斯想要達到的目標，伯爾和華納都沒有透露迄今爲止得出的任何結論。華納說，“普京的目標是一個削弱了的美國。”他說，“經濟上疲軟，在全球影響力減弱。這應該是不論黨派的所有美國人都關心的問題。”

衆議院情報委員會一直在主導對俄羅斯問題的調查。但是，該委員會取消了本週的公開聽證會。與此同時，該委員會主席、共和黨人德文·努涅斯向川普總統彙報了他未與委員會分享的機密信息。

在衆議院情報委員會看似出現混亂之際，參議院情報委員會成了焦點。伯爾說，他去年11月投了川普一票，但是他否認同在共和黨陣營會影響到他的工作。

即使如此，越來越多的民主黨人表示，共和黨人控制下的國會委員會可能永遠不會讓事實浮出水面。

白宮曾抱怨這是國會對總統團隊進行的抹黑運動，但承認需要進行調查。