USA TODAY US Edition

Testimony shows Sessions’ integrity

- Ronna McDaniel Ronna McDaniel is chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.

Attorney General Sessions’ testimony in an open hearing before the Senate Intelligen­ce Committee again proved his unwavering commitment to transparen­cy and dedication to upholding the integrity of the Justice Department.

Democratic senators’ decision to promulgate unfounded character attacks on the attorney general is, in his own words, “appalling and detestable.” Democrats sought to vilify Sessions’ meetings with the Russian ambassador, when they know such meetings are normal for sitting U.S. senators.

Sessions made it clear that in those two meetings, there was no discussion of anything inappropri­ate or unlawful. Yet another hearing, and still no evidence of collusion.

The only new informatio­n to come out of this hearing is that James Comey was dishonest in his testimony last week.

In a memo sent to Comey, Sessions’ chief of staff explicitly stated Sessions would recuse himself from any investigat­ion involving the Trump campaign. In his testimony, Sessions made clear this was in compliance with the requiremen­t that DOJ officials must not be involved in investigat­ions into a political campaign in which they were involved.

What is not clear is how Comey could testify that he was not aware of parameters around the attorney general’s recusal when he received the memo directly to his inbox. For someone who claims to keep extensive records, that excuse doesn’t hold much water.

Comey’s amnesia seems to have also afflicted several Democrats at Tuesday’s hearing. Sessions’ former colleagues were all too eager to attack the attorney general for keeping conversati­ons with the president confidenti­al, convenient­ly forgetting that the practice is common and was used by Obama administra­tion officials.

In his testimony, Sessions left no room for ambiguity. He did not have any conversati­ons regarding collusion with Russian officials. He has been open and transparen­t, proving that any continued questionin­g of wrongdoing is nothing but a Democratic witch hunt aimed at hindering the work this administra­tion is doing on behalf of the American people.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States