WHAT SESSIONS TOLD CONGRESS.
U. S. Attorney General
Jeff Sessions found himself on the hot seat Tuesday as he appeared before the House
Judiciary Committee. Topics ranged from the Russia investigation to sex accusations against an Alabama Senate candidate.
I NEVER LIED
Sessions denied he lied or misled Congress about contacts with Russia by people involved in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, saying he simply forgot about a meeting that’s emerged in the probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
“I will not accept and reject accusations that I have ever lied,” Sessions told the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday. “I have always told the truth, and I have answered every question as I understood them and to the best of my recollection.”
Democrats have questioned the attorney general’s credibility ever since he said in sworn testimony at his Senate confirmation hearing in January that he “wasn’t aware” that anyone in Trump’s campaign made contact with Russians. Their criticism deepened after Mueller, who is investigating Russian meddling in the campaign, filed court documents last month about a meeting Sessions attended in March 2016.
At the meeting, George Papadopoulos, an unpaid adviser, boasted of his Russian connections and said he could help arrange a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I do now recall the March 2016 meeting at Trump Hotel that Mr. Papadopoulos attended, but I have no clear recollection of the details of what he said during that meeting.”
I BELIEVE THE WOMEN
Sessions voiced no skepticism Tuesday of accounts by women accusing Roy Moore of groping or pursuing romantic relationships with them when they were teens, and hinted the Justice Department might look into allegations against the besieged Republican Alabama Senate candidate.
“I have no reason to doubt these young women,” Sessions said. His words seemed certain to carry heft in Alabama, where he was a longtime GOP senator until becoming Trump’s attorney general this year and remains one of that state’s most influential Republican voices.
CLINTON PROBE
Sessions is leaving open the possibility that a special counsel could be appointed to look into Clinton Foundation dealings and, the Justice Department said, in responding to concerns from Republican lawmakers.