海角大神

Mark Warner is kind of a nerd. And that鈥檚 not just us saying it. As our guest May 9 at the Monitor Breakfast, Senator Warner used the word 鈥渘erdy鈥� three times while walking a big table full of reporters through the implications of China鈥檚 aggressive role in the advent of 5G networks, for starters.

Mr. Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, became quite animated as he spoke. And even I, a non-techie, became engrossed in his tutorial on 5G, the 鈥渋nternet of things,鈥� and artificial intelligence.

鈥淚 was in the wireless business, so I'm a little bit nerdy here and pretty obsessed,鈥� said Virginia鈥檚 senior senator and former governor.

Mr. Warner鈥檚 enthusiasm for the subject is understandable. Before going into politics, he wasn鈥檛 just 鈥渋n the wireless business鈥�; he made a fortune as an entrepreneur in the early days of cellular technology, back in the 1980s.

The senator鈥檚 concerns about China came through loud and clear. But just as urgent were our questions about his committee鈥檚 ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election 鈥� the only such bipartisan effort in either house of Congress. The day before, news broke that the panel had subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr., an eye-popping development that pits the Republican-led committee against the president鈥檚 son.

The committee chair, Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, is in the hot seat over this. Mr. Warner essentially defended the subpoena while declining to confirm its existence. Which led to my question: How, amid all the partisan rancor in Washington, has the committee managed to maintain harmony?

Mr. Warner didn鈥檛 hesitate: 鈥淗ard work!鈥� he said 鈥� and a recognition of the need 鈥渢o put country over partisan interests.鈥�

Ultimately, the goal of the Senate committee鈥檚 investigation is to get to the bottom of what went wrong in 2016 with foreign interference, moreso perhaps than even the Mueller report did, and then make sure it doesn鈥檛 happen again.

The hour with Mr. Warner flew by, and he wasn鈥檛 even asked if he might jump into the 2020 presidential race. Time was when Mr. Warner was seen as a hot Democratic prospect for national office 鈥� a successful blue governor in a then-red state, back in the mid-2000s. But he never took the plunge, and now he seems happy doing his nerdy best to address the nation鈥檚 security challenges through the lens of intelligence.

The Monitor鈥檚 main coverage of the breakfast explored聽why U.S.-China trade talks聽are about more than just the balance of exports and imports. I wrote聽a short piece聽highlighting some quotable moments.

To view our breakfast with Mr. Warner,聽click here聽for the C-SPAN video.

Our next breakfast is with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on June 19. And we鈥檝e reached out to many other prominent figures from both parties.

After a bit, it sounds as if Mr. Warner is ready for another round with our breakfast group.

鈥淚'd love to come back and talk about domestic economics,鈥� he said after I had thanked him for coming. 鈥淚've got a whole new theory of, can capitalism actually work in the 21st century? And I'd love to share it with you.鈥�