Richard Burr claims uncommon transparency in Trump, Russia investigation

For nearly a year now, Russian attempts to interfere with the 2016 U.S. election – including hacks of voting software in North Carolina – have been a major national news story.

North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr is playing a key role in the investigations into Russian election meddling. As he began yet another hearing Tuesday, Burr said his committee’s process has been uncommonly transparent.

And, as Senate records prove, Burr is right when it comes to this claim of transparency. PolitiFact NC rated his claim True.

Burr is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is leading an investigation into the Russian election meddling and ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. On Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified. The week before that, it was former FBI director James Comey.

Burr said he wants the American people to hear what key officials have to say, “so that they may make their own judgments” on the investigation.

“It is for that reason that this is the committee’s 10th open hearing of 2017 — more than double that held by the committee in any recent year — and the fifth on the topic of Russian interference,” Burr said Tuesday.

Burr was only talking about the recent past. But how does his track record of open meetings hold to past investigations – like into intelligence failures before the Iraq war, or the Iran-Contra affair?

For more details on that (and exactly how the investigation’s hearings stack up to some during the Obama years) read the full fact-check here.

This story was originally published June 14, 2017 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Richard Burr claims uncommon transparency in Trump, Russia investigation."