Under a barrage of questions from Democratic senators, Attorney General Jeff Sessions denied any significant contact with Russian officials during the election, denied that his decision to fire FBI director James Comey had anything to do with the FBI investigation of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, and even denied knowledge of the USA intelligence community's pre-election finding that Russia interfered in the election.
"Certainly I can assure you nothing improper [happened] if I'd had a conversation with him, and it's conceivable that occurred", Sessions said (via The Week). However, Sessions blatantly refused to answer key questions regarding his actions during the 2016 campaign and since taking oath in February. "You're impeding this investigation", said New Mexico Senator (D) Martin Heinrich.
He also declined to say if Trump opposed Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the Russian Federation probe in March, and whether Justice Department officials discussed possible presidential pardons of individuals being looked at in the probe. "I knew that Director Comey, long-time experienced in the Department of Justice, could handle himself well", Sessions told Sen. Independents were more closely split on the question: 42 percent said it was inappropriate vs. 31 percent who said it was appropriate.
"I didn't have any formal meeting with him", the attorney general said later in the hearing.
"More often than not, the committee conducts its work behind closed doors, a necessary step to ensure that our most sensitive sources and methods are protected", Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, said Tuesday at the start of the Sessiona hearing.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 13, 2017, as he testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about his role in the firing of James Comey, his Russian contacts dur. "Further, I have no knowledge of any such conversations by anyone connected with the Trump campaign", Sessions said. He did not claim executive privilege, but he did say that by not answering questions he was protecting the President's right to later invoke executive privilege "if he chooses".
The latest White House crisis struck on the evening of Trump's 71st birthday, after a day in which he had won plaudits for his handling of the shooting of Republican Congressman Steve Scalise.
Top White House aide Kellyanne Conway knocked members of special counsel Robert Mueller's legal team for not "wanting Trump" to be president in a tweet Tuesday.
Suspected ballfield shooter belonged to anti-GOP groups
Hodgkinson was charged in April 2006 with battery and aiding damage to a motor vehicle, according to online records in St. That protest was meant to call attention to the power held by the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.
So far, no evidence that Trump or his campaign had cooperated with Russian Federation during the presidential race has surfaced publicly. And he appeared to do that effectively in a strong opening statement, where he slammed the door shut on even the possibility that he had a third meeting with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. CNN reported that Mr. Comey had told senators in a closed-door briefing that agents were investigating another possible meeting between Mr. Sessions and Mr. Kislyak.
Trump has made it clear that he is frustrated by the investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election, which United States intelligence officials have said was done to tilt the outcome in Trump's favor.
Why? Because he personally recused himself from all things related to the Trump campaign's ties to Russian Federation the day after he was sworn into office.
Two months after his recusal, Mr. Sessions signed off on Mr. Comey's firing.
Flynn was sacked two weeks into the job amid concerns he lied over his Russian contacts, becoming the first high-profile victim of the scandal that has overshadowed Trump's young presidency.
This might be an occasion to nudge the Times' public editor (or reader's representative) to investigate, but it just abolished Liz Spayd, and her final column came the week before Comey testified.
Putin also echoed Trump's criticism of Comey, saying it was "very strange" for a former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief to leak details of his conversations with the USA president to the media through a friend of his.
"I felt (Comey), so long in the department - former deputy attorney general, as I recall - knew those policies probably a good deal better than I did", said Sessions at one point.
Comments