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Forty-four former U.S. senators from both parties wrote an open letter to their current Senate colleagues in The Washington Post on Monday, imploring them to become “steadfast and zealous guardians of our democracy” as investigations into President Trump’s administration reach their final conclusions. “It is our shared view that we are entering a dangerous period… We are on the eve of the conclusion of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation and the House’s commencement of investigations of the president and his administration,” the senators—including John Kerry, Mark Udall, and Joe Lieberman—wrote. “We are at an inflection point in which the foundational principles of our democracy and our national-security interests are at stake, and the rule of law and the ability of our institutions to function freely and independently must be upheld.” The 44 former members called on the Senate to avoid “partisanship or self-interest” as the investigations' conclusions coincide with “simmering regional conflicts and global power confrontations,” warning of possible threats to the country’s “security, economy, and geopolitical stability.” “At other critical moments in our history, when constitutional crises have threatened our foundations, it has been the Senate that has stood in defense of our democracy,” they wrote. “Today is once again such a time.”