Sen. Whitehouse will help lead investigation into Russian hacking of election

Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse , a consistent outspoken critic of President Trump, will help to lead a bipartisan investigation into Russia’s influence on the presidential election.

The Senator will lead the investigation in his role as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee alongside Republican Chair Lindsey Graham.

"It is very important Americans understand and believe that the President that they have elected is there to represent them,” said Whitehouse.

Last month the FBI and CIA determined that Russia influenced the US presidential election and that Russian President Vladimir Putin was the one who ordered it.

"If American elections are vulnerable to manipulation by foreign countries it puts us into a very dangerous position,” said Whitehouse

The goal of the investigation among other things is to learn more about the methods Russia used  and to explore possible ways to prevent this in the future.

"I think this is a good signal of the way in which the Senate can work in a bipartisan fashion to help the public understand issues that the Trump administration obviously does not want to get public attention,” said Whitehouse.

The House and Senate Intelligence Committees are conducting their own investigations into the Russian hacking.