Attorney General Jeff Sessions heatedly denied on Tuesday having an undisclosed meeting with Russia's ambassador to the USA or conversations with any Russian officials about the US election that sent Donald Trump to the White House.
Democrats on the committee grew frustrated as Sessions continually refused to answer the questions put to him. As security adviser during the campaign, Sessions said, he did not recall being asked by the candidate about alleged Russian interference in the election.
Sessions also said he has "no knowledge of any such conversations by anyone connected to the Trump campaign".
Trump has repeatedly denied colluding with Russian Federation during the presidential campaign, and Comey and others have testified that there is no evidence to the contrary.
Sessions said it would be "absurd" to suggest that a recusal from a single investigation would render him unable to manage the leadership of the FBI.
He's been hounded by speculation over the possibility of a third meeting, with Democratic senators calling for an investigation.
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden told Sessions: "I believe the American people have had it with stonewalling".
As attorney general, Sessions is unlikely to answer in detail questions about conversations he's had with Trump. But in his testimony Mr Sessions claimed that he stepped aside not because of any wrongdoing on his part, but because a regulation of the Department of Justice mandated it.
It it appeared as though Sessions had consulted with a legal team - at the Department of Justice or the White House Counsel's Office - and burning that much time at the hearing without revealing any private conversations with the president had to be viewed as a victory. "I affirmed to him his willingness to say no, or not go in an improper way, improper direction".
Unless Congress actually decides to subpoena Sessions for the information he was unwilling to provide, the "stonewalling can be used an excuse" for lawmakers not to do their job, said Andy Wright, who served in the White House as an associate counsel to president Obama. But his former Democratic colleagues pressed him repeatedly on his contacts with Russian Federation and his role in the dismissal of Comey - who led the FBI's probe on Russian Federation until he was ousted.
Russian Federation has denied interfering in the US election.
Trump says Congressman Scalise 'in some trouble' after shooting
He stayed for about half an hour, and spoke with Scalise's wife Jennifer and Capitol Police officers while he was there. The gunman was shot by Capitol Police officers who were in Scalise's security detail and later died of his injuries.
LIASSON: Well, Sessions has disclosed two meetings with the Russian ambassador while he was a campaign surrogate, and he insists they were done in his capacity as a senator, not as a surrogate even though he was one at the time.
"I'm not able to comment on conversations with high officials within the White House", Sessions said.
Some members of the Intelligence Committee, frustrated by the tight-lipped performance of other administration officials at an open hearing last week, said they were not going to allow Sessions to follow suit.
He also said he would not support firing former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel looking into ties between the Russians and Trump's presidential campaign.
When President Donald Trump fired Comey on May 9, the whole country, save a few ostriches with their heads in the sand, knew exactly why.
"Why don't you tell me", what those accusations are, Sessions demanded of Wyden. That's the one that the Federal Bureau of Investigation director, James Comey, alluded to in his open testimony, and he reportedly told senators about it behind closed doors. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.
"I am protecting the right of the president to assert it if he chooses, and there may be other privileges that apply", he said. "But that in itself is not problematic".
SESSIONS: I was not active in the platform committee, did not participate in that, and don't think I had any direct involvement. "I affirmed his concern that we should be following the proper guidelines of the Department of Justice, and basically backed him up in his concerns".
Comey said Trump told him he hoped Comey would "let go" of his investigation of the president's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and also asked Comey to pledge his personal loyalty and to "lift the cloud" of the Russian Federation probe.
When Senator Dianne Feinstein asked Sessions, "Did you discuss director Comey's handling of the investigations with the president or anyone else?" the Attorney General declined to answer. Unfortunately, Sessions only strengthened the impression that the real reason for firing Comey was concealed until Trump spilled the beans in an interview with Lester Holt.
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