14 June, 2017
"I have never met with or had any conversation with any Russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election in the United States".
"I didn't have any meeting with him, I'm certain of that", Sessions said later, before adding that he "may have had an encounter during the reception".
Senators questioned if he had a role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey even though he had recused himself from the Russian Federation investigation. But he refused to discuss the reports "because I know nothing about the investigation". But time and again, Sessions returned to lines such as: "I am not able to discuss with you or confirm or deny the nature of private conversations that I may have had with the president on this subject or others".
The North Carolina Republican senator gave the update Tuesday at the beginning of an open hearing to hear testimony from Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Ron Wyden (D-OR) had a heated exchange with Sessions, in which Wyden said "the American people have had it with stonewalling".
Sessions responded, "I can say that absolutely and I have no hesitation to do so".
In his opening remarks, Sessions cited Justice Department's "longstanding policy" and insisted it was his duty to "protect confidential communications with the President". The committee can also work with the Trump administration to come up with a solution. Did you raise concerns about Russia's support for [Syrian] President Bashar Al-Assad and his campaign of indiscriminate violence against his own citizens including his use of chemical weapons? He does not acknowledge the unanimous conclusions of the US intelligence community that Russian Federation massively intervened in our election.
Sessions' hearing Tuesday made it clear he and Comey have two very different takes on the state of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under Comey. But Democrats on the Senate panel are likely to press him on issues such as 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. He later amended the record by revealing he had met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, twice over the course of the 2016 campaign.
Sessions said his chief of staff was also in that conversation, and that Comey "mentioned no facts of any kind, didn't mention that he'd been asked to do anything that was improper".
Asked about Trump's own contention that the president fired Comey with the Russian Federation probe in mind, and regardless of any recommendation from anyone else, Sessions said: "I guess I'll just have to let his words speak for themselves. Franken hit me with when I was testifying and I think it has been pretty substantially discredited, but you would know more than I. But what was said that would suggest I participated in continuing communications with Russians as a surrogate is absolutely false". Are they written down at the Department of Justice?
At the conclusion of a February 14 meeting, the sacked Federal Bureau of Investigation chief testified, Trump urged everyone but Comey to leave the Oval Office, including Sessions. "But that in itself is not problematic". He said he would agree to dismiss Mueller only if there were a legitimate basis to do so.
Comey testified that he didn't mention details to Sessions because he expected the attorney general would soon recuse himself from the investigation that includes a probe of Flynn. And he can expect questions about his involvement in Comey's May 9 firing, the circumstances surrounding his decision to recuse himself from the FBI's investigation, and whether any of his actions - such as interviewing candidates for the FBI director position or meeting with Trump about Comey - violated his recusal pledge.
Sessions told Dianne Feinstein that he wrote a letter to Trump supporting the firing of Comey because he was asked to do so.
