Testy Sessions denies coverup
UNITED STATES: Attorney General Jeff Sessions repeatedly refused to answer questions from senators yesterday about his private conversations with President Donald Trump, including whether he spoke to Trump about former FBI director James Comey’s handling of the investigation into possible co-ordination between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential race.
In a number of testy exchanges with members of the Senate intelligence committee, Sessions said he would not answer many of their questions because of a longstanding Justice Department policy that he said protects private conversations between Cabinet secretaries and the president.
Sessions confirmed elements of Comey’s dramatic testimony before the same panel last week while disputing others.
He said he was in an Oval Office meeting in February with Comey and Trump when the president said he wanted to speak to Comey privately, and he acknowledged that Comey came to talk to him the next day about the meeting.
At other times, though, the attorney general frequently said he could not recall specifics, particularly when asked about his meetings with Russian officials during last year’s presidential campaign.
Sessions took particular aim at news reports about a possible meeting he had with a Russian official during an April 2016 event at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, where Trump gave a proRussia speech.
He acknowledged being at the event and said he had conversations with people there, but did not remember any conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
He said he had met twice with Kislyak – once during the Republican National Convention and once in his Senate office – and that he did not disclose that during his confirmation hearing.
He said, however, that he did not remember any other meetings with Russian officials during the campaign and did not remember any conversations with Russian officials about the Trump campaign.
The attorney general has since recused himself from the Russia investigation.
When asked about his conversation with Comey on the day the president spoke to Comey alone, Sessions described the exchange differently than the former FBI chief did in his testimony last week.
Sessions said he told Comey ‘‘that the FBI and the Department of Justice needed to be careful to follow department policies regarding appropriate contact with the White House’'.
Senator Ron Wyden, DemOregon, suggested that Sessions was ducking critical questions in his testimony.
‘‘I believe the American people have had it with stonewalling. Americans don’t want to hear that answers to relevant questions are privileged or off limits,’’ Wyden said.
Sessions shot back: ‘‘I am not stonewalling. I am following the historic policies of the Department of Justice.’’ – Washington Post