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<\/a>Jeff Sessions denied on Tuesday that he stayed silent when James Comey urged him never to leave him alone again with President Donald Trump. | Getty<\/p><\/div>
\nBy SEUNG MIN KIM and JOSH GERSTEIN
\nPolitico.com<\/p>\n
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday forcefully denied he engaged in any collusion with Russian officials during the campaign, calling such a suggestion a \u201cdetestable lie,\u201d while saying he did not recall having a third undisclosed meeting with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.<\/p>\n
“The suggestion that I participated in any collusion or that I was aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country, which I have served with honor for over 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie,\u201d Sessions said as he testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee.<\/p>\n
Sessions also pushed back against the idea that he had more meetings with Kislyak, after having been forced to clarify remarks from his confirmation hearing in January that he did not have communications with Russian officials during the campaign. Two previous meetings with Kisylak surfaced earlier this year, but Sessions said on Tuesday he doesn’t remember any further encounters, including an allegation he met with Kislyak in April 2016 at the Mayflower Hotel, which hosted a foreign policy speech by Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
“I did not have any private meetings nor do I recall any conversations with any Russian officials at the Mayflower Hotel,” Sessions said.<\/p>\n
He later elaborated that a brief interaction with Kislyak may have occurred, noting that \u201cI may have had an encounter during the reception\u201d but that would\u2019ve been the extent of any communication.<\/p>\n
Sessions took his uncomfortable star turn in the same seat occupied by James Comey five days ago as the former FBI director pointedly accused Trump of lying about his dismissal.<\/p>\n
Sessions has found himself at the center of the Russian controversy in recent days, particularly after Comey\u2019s testimony that he\u2019d asked Sessions to intervene after Trump initiated a series of contacts the FBI director viewed as improper.<\/p>\n
The ex-FBI chief also suggested Sessions realized something inappropriate was afoot when Trump asked Comey to stay behind at an Oval Office meeting at February, while dismissing Sessions and others from the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sense was the attorney general knew he shouldn’t be leaving, which is why he was lingering,\u201d Comey testified.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Comey also said that in the one-on-one meeting that followed, Trump asked that the FBI \u201clet\u2026go\u201d of a probe into former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn. Trump has said he made no such request.<\/p>\n Sessions denied on Tuesday that he stayed silent when Comey urged him never to leave him alone again with Trump \u2014 testifying that he urged the FBI and Justice Department officials to follow proper protocol in their communications with the White House.<\/p>\n That directly counters Comey\u2019s testimony from last week, when the ex-FBI chief said Sessions had no response when he told the attorney general that him being left alone with Trump was inappropriate and should not happen. A Justice Department spokesman rejected Comey\u2019s account following the June 8 hearing.<\/p>\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t recall this, but I responded to his comment by agreeing that the FBI and the Department of Justice needed to be careful to follow department policies regarding appropriate contacts with the White House,\u201d Sessions testified.<\/p>\n Sessions did not say if he made any effort to stop Trump from contacting the FBI, such as intervening with the president directly or seeking to pass such a message through the White House counsel or other officials.<\/p>\n The attorney general’s closely-watched testimony came as Washington buzzed about suggestions from Trump allies that the president was considering firing the man tapped last month to take over the probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election: special counsel Robert Mueller.<\/p>\n Sessions would not specifically talk about Mueller’s job performance, but said, “I have confidence in Mr. Mueller.”<\/p>\n The attorney general cited his recusal from the Russia probe as one of the reasons he could not elaborate on Mueller. In March, Sessions declared that because of his role in the Trump campaign he was recusing himself from all inquiries related to Russia\u2019s alleged interference in the 2016 elections.<\/p>\n During his testimony on Tuesday, Sessions disclosed more details of the timeline of his recusal: One day after he was sworn in as attorney general on Feb. 9, Sessions had his first meeting to generally discuss the recusal matter. Several meetings followed, and \u201cit became clear to me over time that I qualified as a significant principal adviser type person to the campaign and it would be appropriate and the right thing for me to recuse myself.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/b>His recusal from matters related to the presidential campaign, which Sessions said was essentially in place from his first day as attorney general, is apparently so broad that he has never been briefed on Russian hacking attempts last year. Sessions also said Tuesday that he would not claim executive privilege as he testifies \u201cbecause that is the president\u2019s power.\u201d But he added that he would abide by longstanding DOJ practice to shield his discussions with Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot and will not violate my duty to protect confidential communications with the president,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Sessions refused to answer a pivotal question from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.): whether he discussed Comey\u2019s handling of the investigations into the Trump campaign with the president prior to the FBI director\u2019s dismissal.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m not able to discuss with you or confirm or deny the nature of a private conversation that I may have had with the president on this subject or others. I know this will be discussed, but that’s the rules that have been adhered to by the Department of Justice,\u201d Sessions said.<\/p>\n
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\n\u201cI never received any detailed briefing on how the hacking occurred,\u201d Sessions testified, saying he had only gotten his information about Russian interference in the 2016 campaign through the news media.
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\nSpeaking to Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), Sessions added that \u201cyou might have been very critical if I, as an active part of the campaign, was seeking intelligence related to something that might be relevant to the campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n