The Day joins with U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and others in calling for the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate connections between the Russian government and President Trump’s campaign and administration.

“The future of our democracy depends on it,” said the Democratic senator from Connecticut. He may not be exaggerating.

Monday’s resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn after only three weeks in the position was the latest piece in a troubling puzzle that Congress needs to fully assemble for the benefit and security of the American people.

Consider how the nation got to a point where the Justice Department had to warn the Trump Administration that the president’s top man in charge of security was exposed to potential blackmail by Russian authorities.

In the early 2000s, Ukraine’s wealthiest businessman, Rinat Akhmetov, a steel and iron ore magnate, hired U.S. political consultant Paul Manafort. Akhmetov was a supporter of Viktor Yanukovych, the country’s prime minister, considered a puppet of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who wanted to block Ukraine’s growing association with the West.

Yanukovych’s first presidential campaign in December 2004 was an ugly one. His pro-Western opponent, Viktor Yushchenko, was poisoned by dioxin during the campaign. Despite Yushchenko’s face being disfigured by the poison, he won the disputed election.

Manafort was tasked with rebuilding Yanukovych’s image. He succeeded. Yanukovych won the 2010 election. But his administration proved to be a corrupt and controversial one, his efforts to move Ukraine back into the Russian sphere unpopular. Faced with massive protests, he resigned in 2014, fleeing to Russia and the protection of Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile in 2015, Flynn, the future national security adviser and a retired three-star general, attended an anniversary celebration of Russia Today, a TV network controlled by the Kremlin. His seat was next to Putin. Who paid for the trip is under investigation by the Army. The Constitution prohibits former officers from receiving compensation from foreign governments without congressional consent.

In April 2016, Trump named Manafort his campaign manager. In August, The New York Times reported that Manafort’s name was found in an off-the-record handwritten ledger, dating to Yanukovych’s presidency in Ukraine, detailing secret payments to people of influence. It listed a $12.7 million payout.

Manafort dismissed the report as “unfounded, silly.” Two days later, Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign.

Following Trump’s Nov. 8 election as president, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei A. Ryabkov's comments to the Russian-government-run news agency Interfax surfaced in the U.S. press. In the interview, Ryabkov states "there were contacts" with Trump’s "entourage" throughout the election. "I cannot say that all of them, but quite a few have been staying in touch with Russian representatives."

Trump campaign officials denied any such connections.

On Dec. 16, both the FBI director and the director of National Intelligence reported their conclusions that Russian cyber operatives had sought to influence the U.S. presidential election, hacking and releasing the emails of Democratic officials, and posting fake stories in social media, to damage the campaign of Hillary Clinton.

On Dec. 29, President Obama announced a series of sanctions against Russia for its interference. Shortly after, Flynn, already named as Trump’s future national security adviser, called Russian Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak. Unknown to Flynn, U.S. intelligence was listening.

Referencing unnamed Trump and Obama administration officials, The New York Times reports that Flynn reassured the ambassador that Trump would adopt a more accommodating tone toward Russia. He urged Russia not to retaliate with its own sanctions because it could complicate future cooperation.

Putin, to the surprise of many at the time, did not retaliate.

According to The Washington Post, the attorney general warned the Trump White House in late January that Flynn had misled senior administration officials, specifically Vice President Mike Pence, about the nature of his communications with the Russian ambassador. This led to the possibility that Russia could try to manipulate Flynn by threatening to reveal the full conversation.

Flynn resigned soon after news of that warning broke.

Either that’s a lot of coincidences or something is rotten in Washington and Moscow. Layered atop all these associations is the oddity of Trump’s praise of Putin throughout the campaign, and his continued admiration for Putin even now.

Did anyone direct Flynn? What did Flynn tell Trump about his meeting with the Russian ambassador? What were the connections between the Trump team and Russia during the campaign, if any? What would Trump’s tax returns reveal about dealings with Russia?

These questions deserve answers. Republicans must join with Democrats in a bipartisan effort to get at the truth.