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| Mark Warner Faces a Stand-and-Deliver Moment in Russian Inquiry | Mark Warner Faces a Stand-and-Deliver Moment in Russian Inquiry |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| WASHINGTON — For a while now, Senator Mark R. Warner has taken to thinking like a Russian. | WASHINGTON — For a while now, Senator Mark R. Warner has taken to thinking like a Russian. |
| The Virginia Democrat is losing himself in a book about the Romanovs, eager to absorb the country’s theories of war, teasing staff members for insufficient knowledge of Tolstoy and Nabokov. He has been sending messages over the encrypted app Signal, just to be safe. | The Virginia Democrat is losing himself in a book about the Romanovs, eager to absorb the country’s theories of war, teasing staff members for insufficient knowledge of Tolstoy and Nabokov. He has been sending messages over the encrypted app Signal, just to be safe. |
| Then there was the ruckus outside Mr. Warner’s window late one recent afternoon, a curious thud against the building beside a giant American flag. | Then there was the ruckus outside Mr. Warner’s window late one recent afternoon, a curious thud against the building beside a giant American flag. |
| “That may just be the F.S.B.,” Mr. Warner said flatly, referring to Russia’s primary intelligence and security agency. He appeared to be kidding. Probably. | “That may just be the F.S.B.,” Mr. Warner said flatly, referring to Russia’s primary intelligence and security agency. He appeared to be kidding. Probably. |
| Such is the head space of Capitol Hill’s top Democrat investigating ties between President Trump’s orbit and Russian intelligence — a former rising star in the party, frozen in the ascent for years now — and at present, the chief congressional bulwark in the fight to ensure the administration is held to account. | Such is the head space of Capitol Hill’s top Democrat investigating ties between President Trump’s orbit and Russian intelligence — a former rising star in the party, frozen in the ascent for years now — and at present, the chief congressional bulwark in the fight to ensure the administration is held to account. |
| As Republicans resist calls for a select committee or special prosecutor to oversee the matter, the Democrats’ best hope for acquiring answers most likely remains an investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee, where Mr. Warner is vice chairman. | As Republicans resist calls for a select committee or special prosecutor to oversee the matter, the Democrats’ best hope for acquiring answers most likely remains an investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee, where Mr. Warner is vice chairman. |
| The result, at the height of anti-Trump fervor and Wall Street-bashing progressivism in the Democratic Party’s base, is a spotlight trained brightly on a southern-state centrist with a nine-figure net worth, a decade-old itch to be president and, until recently, according to friends and former aides, a healthy disdain for the institution he serves. | The result, at the height of anti-Trump fervor and Wall Street-bashing progressivism in the Democratic Party’s base, is a spotlight trained brightly on a southern-state centrist with a nine-figure net worth, a decade-old itch to be president and, until recently, according to friends and former aides, a healthy disdain for the institution he serves. |
| “I’ve never seen him seized by a responsibility as much as he is now,” said Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, who has known Mr. Warner since law school and succeeded him as the state’s governor in 2006. “He’s a man on a mission.” | “I’ve never seen him seized by a responsibility as much as he is now,” said Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, who has known Mr. Warner since law school and succeeded him as the state’s governor in 2006. “He’s a man on a mission.” |
| Mr. Warner, 62, has another phrase for it: “probably the most important thing I’ve done in public life.” | Mr. Warner, 62, has another phrase for it: “probably the most important thing I’ve done in public life.” |
| Yet the competition for this distinction is not as fierce as Mr. Warner once imagined. | Yet the competition for this distinction is not as fierce as Mr. Warner once imagined. |
| Rangy and gravel-voiced, with a Harvard law degree, a telecommunications fortune and a stately suburban home in the Old Town neighborhood of Alexandria, Va., Mr. Warner reached the governor’s mansion in 2002 as a pro-business Democrat who found unlikely success with the kinds of rural voters who last year elevated Mr. Trump. He sponsored a local Nascar team, dabbled in turkey hunting and added a bluegrass campaign theme song. | Rangy and gravel-voiced, with a Harvard law degree, a telecommunications fortune and a stately suburban home in the Old Town neighborhood of Alexandria, Va., Mr. Warner reached the governor’s mansion in 2002 as a pro-business Democrat who found unlikely success with the kinds of rural voters who last year elevated Mr. Trump. He sponsored a local Nascar team, dabbled in turkey hunting and added a bluegrass campaign theme song. |
| “Get ready to shout it from the coal mines to the stills,” the lyrics went. “Here comes Mark Warner, the hero of the hills.” | “Get ready to shout it from the coal mines to the stills,” the lyrics went. “Here comes Mark Warner, the hero of the hills.” |
| After a popular term as governor, a possible 2008 presidential run was aborted before it began, punctured by some halting moments on the precampaign circuit. (If a cellphone went off in the crowd while he was speaking, Mr. Warner, a co-founder of the company that became Nextel, would joke that all he heard was “ka-ching, ka-ching.”) | After a popular term as governor, a possible 2008 presidential run was aborted before it began, punctured by some halting moments on the precampaign circuit. (If a cellphone went off in the crowd while he was speaking, Mr. Warner, a co-founder of the company that became Nextel, would joke that all he heard was “ka-ching, ka-ching.”) |
| Since then, after a landslide Senate victory in 2008, he has slogged through life in the Senate with few signature achievements, never quite finding his moment. | Since then, after a landslide Senate victory in 2008, he has slogged through life in the Senate with few signature achievements, never quite finding his moment. |
| Persistent vice-presidential speculation amounted to little, with Mr. Kaine instead getting the most recent call to round out a Democratic ticket. | Persistent vice-presidential speculation amounted to little, with Mr. Kaine instead getting the most recent call to round out a Democratic ticket. |
| By the time Mr. Warner came up for re-election to the Senate in 2014, he eked out a victory by less than a point. Months before the vote, he was asked at a county fair how he was doing. His response: “You know where I work.” | By the time Mr. Warner came up for re-election to the Senate in 2014, he eked out a victory by less than a point. Months before the vote, he was asked at a county fair how he was doing. His response: “You know where I work.” |
| Now given a task befitting his ambitions, Mr. Warner is plainly relishing the role, suggesting his profile as a moderate — Mr. Warner once had an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association — was at last serving a political purpose on the national stage. | Now given a task befitting his ambitions, Mr. Warner is plainly relishing the role, suggesting his profile as a moderate — Mr. Warner once had an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association — was at last serving a political purpose on the national stage. |
| “There have been some times when I’ve been put in kind of ‘timeout’ for being too bipartisan,” he said during a 40-minute interview last week in his Senate office, sipping acai-blueberry pomegranate Vitaminwater from a plastic cup. “Man alive, you cannot make this partisan.” | “There have been some times when I’ve been put in kind of ‘timeout’ for being too bipartisan,” he said during a 40-minute interview last week in his Senate office, sipping acai-blueberry pomegranate Vitaminwater from a plastic cup. “Man alive, you cannot make this partisan.” |
| The minefields are many, politically and procedurally, as Mr. Warner strains to hold the committee together and maintain his own credibility with peers in both parties. | The minefields are many, politically and procedurally, as Mr. Warner strains to hold the committee together and maintain his own credibility with peers in both parties. |
| He is working to assuage the concerns of Democrats who suspect that Senator Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina and the committee’s chairman, is not especially interested in a thorough investigation. | He is working to assuage the concerns of Democrats who suspect that Senator Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina and the committee’s chairman, is not especially interested in a thorough investigation. |
| But he has taken care not to alienate Mr. Burr, a vocal Trump supporter during the campaign. | But he has taken care not to alienate Mr. Burr, a vocal Trump supporter during the campaign. |
| These dueling impulses collided last month when Mr. Warner publicly scolded his Republican colleague after The Washington Post reported that Mr. Burr had spoken with the White House and engaged with news organizations to dispute reports that associates of Mr. Trump had consistent contact with Russian intelligence operatives. | These dueling impulses collided last month when Mr. Warner publicly scolded his Republican colleague after The Washington Post reported that Mr. Burr had spoken with the White House and engaged with news organizations to dispute reports that associates of Mr. Trump had consistent contact with Russian intelligence operatives. |
| In the interview, Mr. Warner called Mr. Burr a friend and declined to detail their private conversations. Other Democrats have been less muted. | In the interview, Mr. Warner called Mr. Burr a friend and declined to detail their private conversations. Other Democrats have been less muted. |
| “As deep as our skepticism runs when it comes to Senator Burr, it is exceeded by the confidence we have in Senator Warner,” said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader. | “As deep as our skepticism runs when it comes to Senator Burr, it is exceeded by the confidence we have in Senator Warner,” said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader. |
| The responsibility seems to have seeped into most aspects of Mr. Warner’s professional life. He has taken to deploying phrases like “personal cyberhygiene” in conversation and discusses Russian incursions into French politics with a fluency once reserved for Virginia budget skirmishes. | The responsibility seems to have seeped into most aspects of Mr. Warner’s professional life. He has taken to deploying phrases like “personal cyberhygiene” in conversation and discusses Russian incursions into French politics with a fluency once reserved for Virginia budget skirmishes. |
| Reading materials lately have focused on the Gerasimov Doctrine of Russian warfare, named for a general and appointee of President Vladimir V. Putin, which holds that the boundary between war and peace has blurred and that covert tactics will increase in “nonlinear war.” | |
| Last week, a meeting with the German ambassador — ostensibly to discuss trade and economic policy — turned immediately to Russia, and scarcely returned to the intended topic. | Last week, a meeting with the German ambassador — ostensibly to discuss trade and economic policy — turned immediately to Russia, and scarcely returned to the intended topic. |
| “I’ve got to get this Russia right,” Mr. Warner said at one point in the interview, seemingly too preoccupied to supply a missing noun. | “I’ve got to get this Russia right,” Mr. Warner said at one point in the interview, seemingly too preoccupied to supply a missing noun. |
| His obsessive approach, friends and former staff members say, follows years of frustration over the pace of progress in Washington, including occasional clashes with the former Democratic leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. | His obsessive approach, friends and former staff members say, follows years of frustration over the pace of progress in Washington, including occasional clashes with the former Democratic leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. |
| One past prominent assignment, as a member of a “Gang of Six” debt reduction group in 2011, fizzled despite a frantic blitz from Mr. Warner, who hosted negotiation sessions at his own home. | One past prominent assignment, as a member of a “Gang of Six” debt reduction group in 2011, fizzled despite a frantic blitz from Mr. Warner, who hosted negotiation sessions at his own home. |
| “My primary responsibility in the group was to make sure that Mark had taken his Ritalin,” said Saxby Chambliss, the former Republican senator from Georgia and a frequent dining and drinking partner of Mr. Warner, who prefers white wine. | “My primary responsibility in the group was to make sure that Mark had taken his Ritalin,” said Saxby Chambliss, the former Republican senator from Georgia and a frequent dining and drinking partner of Mr. Warner, who prefers white wine. |
| Luke Albee, Mr. Warner’s former chief of staff, said there was perhaps no lawmaker “less psychologically wired for the Senate.” | Luke Albee, Mr. Warner’s former chief of staff, said there was perhaps no lawmaker “less psychologically wired for the Senate.” |
| “He was always looking for doors to open and things to join,” Mr. Albee said. “I think that this is one where the game has come to him.” | “He was always looking for doors to open and things to join,” Mr. Albee said. “I think that this is one where the game has come to him.” |
| For now, Mr. Warner has suggested, he does not aspire to anything more. In November, he told The Wall Street Journal that his presidential window “is probably shut.” | For now, Mr. Warner has suggested, he does not aspire to anything more. In November, he told The Wall Street Journal that his presidential window “is probably shut.” |
| But that was months ago. Asked last week if he retained any desire to be president or vice president, Mr. Warner demurred. “I’ve got one job to do,” he said. “And doing this job well is going to take 100 percent of my time.” | But that was months ago. Asked last week if he retained any desire to be president or vice president, Mr. Warner demurred. “I’ve got one job to do,” he said. “And doing this job well is going to take 100 percent of my time.” |
| He was told this was not the hardest “no” one could imagine. The senator smiled, shrugging slightly and staying silent. | He was told this was not the hardest “no” one could imagine. The senator smiled, shrugging slightly and staying silent. |
| It was not yet time, it seemed, to meddle in the 2020 election. | It was not yet time, it seemed, to meddle in the 2020 election. |