Republican Senators Call for Exhaustive Probe of Flynn, Russia

The fallout from Gen. Michael Flynn's resignation has prompted top members of the Republican-led Senate to call for investigations of Russia and President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Flynn, CNN reported.

Ranking Republicans John Cornyn, Roy Blunt, and Lindsey Graham have all called for the investigation, and that includes talking to the ousted Flynn, who resigned late Monday night.

Blunt, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said his committee "should look into it exhaustively."

"I would think that we should talk to Gen. Flynn very soon, and that should answer a lot of questions," Blunt told a radio station, according to CNN. "What did he know? What did he do?"

Graham was more pointed in what he wants to hear from Flynn.

"I think Congress needs to be informed of what actually Gen. Flynn said to the Russian ambassador about lifting sanctions," Graham said on CNN's "At This Hour." 

"And I want to know, 'Did Gen. Flynn do this by himself, or was he directed by somebody to do it?'"

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said that he would support an investigation of the administration's Russian ties in order to "get all of this behind us.

"There's been a lot of nefarious activity from Russia," the Tennessee Republican told Jake Tapper on CNN. "The American people should understand fully what that is.

"We certainly should.

"We should have a full-scale investigation on everything occurring between Russia, our elections and any alliances that they have here."

Earlier on Tuesday, Democrats called for a special investigation into possible links between Trump's administration and Russia, including when Trump learned his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had discussed U.S. sanctions with a Russian diplomat. 

"The American people deserve to know the full extent of Russia's financial, personal, and political grip on President Trump and what that means for our national security," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.

Flynn's resignation late Monday also prompted Democrats to press again for a no-holds-barred probe of Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election.

This report contains material from The Associated Press.

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