- The Washington Times - Friday, May 15, 2020

The Senate Intelligence Committee has submitted the fifth and final volume of its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election for classification review, the panel said Friday.

Once the report is made public, it will close the curtain on the last investigation into the 2016 election. Former special counsel Robert Mueller ended his investigation last year and the House Intelligence Committee concluded its probe in 2018.

The bipartisan report was submitted to the Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) redactions and classifications. The panel said in a statement that it submitted nearly 1,000 pages with recommended redactions to speed up the review process.

“It is our hope that ODNI can expeditiously review these documents so that the committee can consider, vote on, and release the report as soon as possible,” committee Chairman Richard Burr, North Carolina Republican, and Vice Chairman Mark Warner, Virginia Democrat, said in a joint statement.

The committee has previously released four other volumes examining U.S. election security, Russia’s use of social media, the Obama administration’s response to Russian election interference, and the January 2017 Intelligence Committee Assessment.

The fifth volume will examine the committee’s counterintelligence conclusions.

On Thursday, Mr. Burr announced that he was temporarily stepping down as chairman as investigators probe stock trades he made ahead of the market downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. Burr told reporters the stock investigation is a “distraction” to the committee’s important work.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.

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