The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), emphasized the committee’s commitment to open hearings on Tuesday, in his opening statement before Attorney General Jeff Sessions addressed the committee.
The intelligence community over which the committee had oversight jurisdiction, Burr said, “is a large and diverse place,” and there have been many more hearings held than just those focused on Russia.
“But I also recognize the gravity of the committee’s current investigation and the need for the American people to be presented the facts so that they might make their own judgments,” Burr said. “It is for that reason that this committee has now held its tenth open hearing of 2017, more than double that of the committee in recent years, and the fifth on the topic of Russian interference.”