Over the course of the last year and a half, Donald Trump has attempted to dismiss allegations that he has ties to Russia. With just a week left until he is sworn into the White House, the president-elect is coming under fire once again over a possible link to the Kremlin

Trump and Russia

When Donald Trump pulled off the monumental upset over Hillary Clinton to become the new president-elect, many wondered how he was able to bounce back in the polls and get the victory. Since then, the CIA, FBI, and the White House have all concluded that Russia was behind the election hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), with the main goal of harming Clinton and helping Trump.

As expected, the billionaire real estate mogul has questioned the report's validity, while Russia has denied any wrongdoing. Earlier this week, CNN reported that Russian operatives had planned to blackmail Trump using recently obtained "compromising" information. In response to recent events, the Senate Intelligence Committee have made it offical and announced an upcoming investigation, as reported by The Hill on January 13.

In a bipartisan effort, led by Republican Sen. Richard Burr and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, the Senate Intelligence Committee have decided to investigate what impact Russia had on the election, and what, if any, role Donald Trump played in the process.

A joint statement was released by the committee of both Republicans and Democrats, explaining, "we believe that it is critical to have a full understanding of the scope of Russian intelligence activities impacting the United States."

Burr elaborated further and continued to stress that the investigation was a bipartisan effort.

The committee will "conduct a bipartisan inquiry of the intelligence reporting," Burr noted. The investigation was prompted after the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence "raised profound concerns" over Russia's influence during the election.

Trump denial

Despite many Republicans siding with Democrats into the Senate, Donald Trump and his transition team continue to stand their ground by denying that Russia's probable interference had an impact on the election results.

While there is a growing backlash against him, Trump is now just seven days away from heading to Washington, D.C. on Inauguration Day and becoming the 45th commander in chief in United States history.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED