--- title: Russian Hacking: Senators Pledge Careful Investigation description: The Senate Intelligence Committee is holding its first public hearing on the possibility of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. canonical: https://time.com/4718294/russia-investigation-senate-hearing/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-30T15:57:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:07:19.859Z article:section: Politics og:title: Senators Pledge Careful Investigation Into Russian Meddling og:description: "This is not fake news. This is actually what happened to us." og:url: https://time.com/4718294/russia-investigation-senate-hearing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt433afef390667dcb/6988c094f887dc6413e99a3f/senate-russia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5568 og:image:height: 3132 og:image:alt: Senate Intelligence News Conference on Russia og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Senators Pledge Careful Investigation Into Russian Meddling twitter:description: "This is not fake news. This is actually what happened to us." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt433afef390667dcb/6988c094f887dc6413e99a3f/senate-russia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Senators Pledge Careful Investigation Into Russian Meddling > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Mar 30, 2017 3:57 PM UTC  Senate Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner, D-Va., speaks at a news conference about the investigation into Russian meddling at the election with Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. Senate Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner, D-Va., speaks at a news conference about the investigation into Russian meddling at the election with Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call,Inc.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Mar 30, 2017 3:57 PM UTC The Republican and Democratic heads of the [Senate Intelligence Committee](http://time.com/4717781/senate-intelligence-committee-russia-probe/) said there is a lot of circumstantial evidence of [Russian meddling](http://time.com/4718548/russian-hacking-marco-rubio-target/) in the [2016 election](http://time.com/4706424/donald-trump-twitter-russia-election-democrats/). Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia stressed that they have not reached any conclusions but pledged to work together to avoid politicizing the investigation. “I will not prejudge the outcome of our investigation,” Warner said in his opening statement. “We are seeking to determine if there is a lot of fire, but there is certainly a lot of smoke.” Warner, a Democrat, also took a jab at President Trump, emphasizing that these allegations are not “fake news.” “This is not innuendo or false allegations. This is not fake news. This is actually what happened to us,” he said. In his opening statement, Burr, the committee chair, said that it’s imperative to acknowledge the Cold War history of the Soviet Union and the United States to understand the severity and historical context of the threats. “We’re all targets of a sophisticated and capable adversary, and we must engage in a whole-of-government approach to combat Russian active measures,” he said. Both Senators commended each others’ dedication to the investigation, and reiterated the importance of retaining bipartisan cooperation to ensure an effective outcome. “If we politicize this process, our efforts will likely fail,” said Burr. The House Intelligence Committee is currently embroiled in controversy; ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff has called on Chairman Devin Nunes to [recuse himself](http://time.com/4714659/devin-nunes-adam-schiff-house-intelligence-commitee-russia-donald-trump/) from the investigation following revelations that he bypassed committee members to brief the White House last week. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4718294/russia-investigation-senate-hearing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4718294/russia-investigation-senate-hearing/"},"headline":"Senators Pledge Careful Investigation Into Russian Meddling","datePublished":"2017-03-30T15:57:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:07:19.859Z","description":"\"This is not fake news. 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