Trump slams widening Mueller probe

When Wyden accused him of not answering the questions about Comey's reported remark that his behavior after recusing himself from the Russian Federation probe was "problematic", Sessions chuckled and then launched into his most theatrical defense of his actions.

While it is unknown if there are tapes, a new report of a memo from a former NSA official documents Trump's attempts to influence the NSA and interfere in the Russian Federation investigation.

The report, which cites five unnamed officials, states that the investigation into Mr Trump began after FBI director James Comey was sacked by the president on May 9th. Second, Sessions insisted that firing the FBI director was justified because of the way Comey announced his decision to close the investigation into Hillary Clinton's e-mails in July.

Trump didn't know it at the time, but his phone calls left a paper trail that could lead straight to obstruction of justice. "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 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie".

An hour later Trump tweeted that it was a witch hunt.

Some Democrats grew impatient, warning Sessions was stonewalling on vital issues.

"You are not answering questions". "Your silence... speaks volumes". Sessions argued that in the context of that hearing, "my answer was a fair and correct response to the charge as I understood it".

BARRETT: Well, it's longstanding Justice Department policy that a sitting president can not be indicted by a grand jury.

Those efforts, of course, culminated in the shock firing of former F.B.I. director James Comey, who testified last week that he would not accede to the president's repeated requests to bend protocol, drop the investigation, and pledge loyalty.

Sessions had one major goal - to protect himself after Comey thrust him into the center of the Russian Federation maelstrom.

The two men worked closely together in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks when Mueller was Federal Bureau of Investigation director and Comey was a high-ranking Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration. "But I have to tell you, Sen".

"This is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, and I don't appreciate it", he added.

Sanders confirmed that the President did interview Robert Mueller as a candidate for FBI director the day before he was named special counsel of the federal investigation into the Trump campaign and Russian Federation ties. And leading Republican legislators on Tuesday waved off the idea of firing Mueller, with House Speaker Paul Ryan saying that his advice was to "let Robert Mueller do his job" and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voicing confidence in the special counsel.

"I recused myself from any investigation into the campaigns for President, but I did not recuse myself from defending my honor against scurrilous and false allegations", Sessions said.

Did Sessions have meetings with Russian officials or proxies during the campaign?

But he denied any substantive discussion with Kislyak at a third encounter, at an April 27, 2016 reception for Trump at Washington's Mayflower Hotel.

"The question is: Mr Comey said that there were matters with respect to the recusal that were problematic and he couldn't talk about them".

Comey testified last week that as of February 14, he still believed Sessions had not recused himself - but that he nearly certainly would.

BARRETT: It's probably a lesser understood part of this set of investigations that as they look at various people who were associates of the president both as president and when he was a candidate, they have also been looking at the finances of those folks.