Senior Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham urged Congress on Tuesday to investigate Russia's role in the series of cyber attacks directed at U.S. political organizations leading up to last week's elections, potentially forestalling Donald Trump's desire for improved relations with President Vladimir Putin.
Graham, who has been publicly critical of Trump, proposed that both chambers hold hearings to probe "Russia's misadventures throughout the world," including the Obama administration's conclusion that the Kremlin was behind the hack on the Democratic National Committee, New York Magazine reported.
"Assuming for a moment that we do believe that the Russian government was controlling outside organizations that hacked into our election, they should be punished," Graham said. "Putin should be punished."
U.S. officials formally accused Russia last month of directing cyber attacks against political computer systems in an attempt to influence the 2016 elections. Putin has repeatedly denied the charges.
Graham's call for an investigation into Russia came one day after Trump and Putin spoke over the phone Monday. Trump's appeals for closer ties with Moscow have raised significant concerns among foreign policy experts who are skeptical of Putin's motives.
"Here's what I would tell Republicans: We cannot sit on the sidelines as a party and let allegations against a foreign government interfering in our election process go unanswered because it may have been beneficial to our cause," Graham said.
Graham added that despite his differences with the president-elect, he would "do everything to help him, because he'll be commander in chief in dangerous times."