Mitch McConnell has stopped trying to block the investigation into Russia’s interference with the election.

Mr. McConnell, a senator from Kentucky, backed an investigation on Monday into United States intelligence conclusions that Russia tried to get Mr. Trump elected through tampering and hacking.

Mr. McConnell faced bipartisan pressure, led by Senator McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida.

And Mr. McConnell talked tough.

“The Russians are not our friends,” he said.

Mr. McConnell said he wanted the Senate Intelligence Committee to lead the efforts. Senator Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina and a vocal supporter of Mr. Trump’s, is that committee’s chairman. But Mr. McConnell welcomed the involvement of Mr. McCain, who is pressing for an investigation of his own.

Meanwhile Trump is of course blowing smoke on Twitter.

Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card. It would be called conspiracy theory!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2016

Unless you catch "hackers" in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. Why wasn't this brought up before election?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2016

The Times is scathing.

That second tweet is a head scratcher. The United States government formally accused Russia of trying to sow discord in the democratic process through its hacking in early October. It stopped short of saying the goal was to elect Mr. Trump.

And forensic analysis does allow experts to trace the source of a hack.

McCain weighs in.

Mr. McCain said on Monday that there was “no doubt about the hacking” by Russian intelligence services into Democratic campaign accounts, which he called “another form of warfare.”

Appearing on “CBS This Morning” with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the next minority leader, Mr. McCain said the wide-ranging investigation of Russian meddling in the election would include his committee as well as the Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees.

He said a Senate investigation would be necessary despite President Obama having already ordered up an inquiry, as that one would not be completed before the end of the Obama administration. The implication was that the new Trump administration would not follow through.

Because the new Trump administration will be compromised and tainted from the start. We’re not talking blow jobs from interns here.

And finally the Times ends this Transition Update with a joke.

Speaking of roles, the former Texas governor, Rick Perry, who wanted to eliminate the Department of Energy but could not remember its name on live television, has emerged as a leading candidate for energy secretary.

Although Texas is rich in energy and Mr. Perry is big on extracting it, he cannot afford too many “oops moments” if he is named to that post. The Energy Department’s primary role is to design nuclear weapons and ensure the safety and reliability of the nation’s aging nuclear arsenal — through a constellation of scientific laboratories. The two men who served as President Obama’s energy secretaries were scientists, one with a Nobel Prize, the other from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Trump does love his jokes.