People familiar with Comey's testimony in a second, closed hearing on Thursday, said the former director told the intelligence committee that Sessions may have had a third, undisclosed interaction with Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.
Senators questioned Sessions on his encounters with Russian ambassadors, why Comey was sacked, and if Russia colluded with Trump's campaign.
"I was your colleague in this body for 20 years, and the suggestion that I participated in any collusion or that I was aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country, which I have served with honor for over 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie", he said.
Instead, Sessions repeatedly said he is "not able to comment" or "not able to discuss" certain topics, citing either Justice Department "longstanding policy", and later, that he is protecting President Donald Trump's right to later on assert executive privilege "if he chooses".
The committee's chairman, Republican Richard Burr, told Sessions the hearing was "your opportunity to separate fact from fiction" and "set the record straight on a number of allegations reported in the press".
But Sessions said Tuesday that he agreed that "the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice needed to be careful to follow department policies regarding appropriate contacts with the White House".
"No, I don't believe I ever did", Sessions said.
Such a move would be complicated and potentially politically explosive. Since Sessions is recused from these matters, he would likely would send such a recommendation to Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein.
Later Sen. Ron Wyden (D-WA) grilled Sessions on this recusal, using Comey's testimony to imply there was some damning unreleased information that informed Sessions's decision to recuse, leading to a heated exchange in which Wyden accused Sessions of "stonewalling" by refusing to discuss the limited information on the Russian Federation probe he did receive before that decision.
US official wishes Rodman well in North Korea
Fowle left a Bible in a local club hoping a North Korean would find it, which is considered a criminal offense in North Korea. He said the issue of several Americans currently detained by North Korea is "not my objective right now".
Comey said he wrote memos on his meetings with the Trump because of "the nature of the person" he was talking to.
In March, Sessions recused himself from any investigations into Russia's actions in the 2016 campaign.
During his testimony, Comey said Trump had specifically excluded Sessions and other top administration officials from the meeting where the president discussed Flynn's possible exposure. Mr. Comey, perhaps he didn't know, but I basically recused myself the first day I got into the office.
The president and aides noted that Comey testified that he told Trump three times he was not personally under investigation over Russian contacts.
Asked about media reports that he had met with Kislyak on a third occasion at a Washington hotel previous year, Sessions testified that did not remember meeting or having a conversation with the ambassador at the event.
As part of the campaign, the former Alabama senator said Trump's team and Russian hackers were not working together.
Sessions had been scheduled to appear Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee to review funding for the Justice Department, which he heads.
USA intelligence agencies believe that Russian Federation interfered in the election in order to help Republican President Donald Trump get elected.
Sessions maintained that he had not been briefed on the Russian Federation investigation between the time of his February swearing-in and his March 2 recusal.
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