Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is opposed to forming a select committee to investigate reports that Russia meddled in the U.S. election.
In an interview with Kentucky Educational Television that was flagged by the Huffington Post, McConnell said that it was “a matter of genuine concern and it needs to be investigated,” but he argued the investigation would be best handled through the existing committee structure.
McConnell said in the interview he was confident that the Senate Intelligence Committee led by Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) was “fully capable” of handling the investigation.
McConnell’s position runs contrary to the position of Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Linsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Jack Reed (D-RI), who all penned a letter last week requesting the special formation of a select committee to handle the matter.
“This cannot become a partisan issue. The stakes are too high for our country. We are committed to working in this bipartisan manner, and we will seek to unify our colleagues around the goal of investigating and stopping the grave threats that cyberattacks conducted by foreign governments pose to our national security,” the senators wrote in their letter.
