Sessions defends firing of Comey at Senate hearing
But AG sidesteps questions on his talks with Trump
In sharp exchanges with Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he served for 20 years, Sessions defended his evolving statements on three conversations with the former Russian ambassador.
He also continued to defend the firing of former FBI Director James Comey in May, even as he stood firm in his refusal to reveal anything President Donald Trump told him about his reasons for the firing.
And he said that although reporters haven’t been targeted aggressively by the administration’s efforts to end leaks, he could not guarantee that he would not try to jail a journalist who published classified information.
“I don’t know that I can make a blanket commitment,” he said.
The hearing, the first time Sessions has appeared on Capitol Hill since June, was a reminder of how questions about Russia continue to cloud the Trump administration and the Justice Department.
Sessions recused himself from any dealings with the Russia probe soon after being confirmed, but that has not spared him from continued questions about his involvement — or from Trump’s wrath. The president went on a Twitter tirade this summer about the investigation, blaming Sessions’ recusal for what he called a “witch hunt” by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Sessions said he was willing to cooperate with Mueller’s investigation, but that the special counsel has not asked him for an interview.
Republicans and Democrats said they still expected answers about the reasons behind Comey’s firing.
“The American people have a right to know why he was fired, especially in the middle of so many high-profile issues going on, including the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections,” Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said.
In testimony earlier this year before the Senate intelligence committee, Sessions said he and Deputy Attorney General RodRosenstein agreed that Comey needed to go because of his decision to talk publicly about the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email practices while she was secretary of state — and his defense of those statements before Congress.
“I don’t think it’s been fully understood, the significance of the error that Mr. Comey made on the Clinton matter,” Sessions said Wednesday. “Particularly, we were concerned that he reaffirmed that he would do it again.”
But Sessions turned aside questions about whether Trump’s real motivation for firing Comey was a desire to end the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. After Comey’s firing, Rosenstein appointed Mueller, a former FBI director, as special counsel.
“That calls for a communication I’ve had with the president, and I believe it remains confidential,” Sessions said. Pressed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., about whether that meant Trump did say something about Russia, Sessions said he “cannot confirm or deny the existence of any communication with the president that I consider confidential.”
Sessions told senators that he needs to protect a tradition of private conversations between the president and aides. But Democrats said he had no legal basis to refuse to answer; Trump has not invoked executive privilege, which might force a legal confrontation between the White House and Congress.
“My concern is you were part of the Russia facade, and you went along with it,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
“I’m not part of a facade,” Sessions said, adding that he was “hurt” by the question from a former colleague.
Sessions’ shifting statements on his conversations with Russian officials sparked sharp exchanges as Democrats pressed him on whether he misled the committee in previous testimony.
In January, Sessions testified that he “did not have communication” with Russian officials, but news accounts later revealed three meetings with Russia’s then-ambassador. Leahy pressed Sessions on whether he had given “false testimony.”
Sessions said he had understood the questions as senators wanting to know if he had talked with Russians about interfering in the election.
“Every one of your previous questions was about improper involvement, and I felt the answer was no,” Sessions said.
The attorney general got testy when Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn, who was one of his interrogators in the January session, accused him of “moving the goalposts” on his answers about Russia. His current statements are “very different from saying, ‘I have not had conversations with the Russians,’?” Franken said.
But Sessions said he had been “taken aback” by Franken’s question toward the end of a long day and said he had made a “good-faith response” denying collusion. “I don’t think it’s fair for you to suggest otherwise,” he said.
The appearance came after a tumultuous summer during which Sessions endured a barrage of public criticism from Trump, even as he aggressively moved to champion tough policies on crime and immigration.
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