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jeff sessions testimony

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During a Congress hearing, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has denied having undisclosed meetings with Russian officials at a Washington DC hotel.

Jeff Sessions also told the Senate Intelligence Committee any suggestion he colluded with the Kremlin was “an appalling and detestable lie”.

America’s top law official also repeatedly refused to answer questions about his private conversations with President Donald Trump.

Jeff Sessions vowed to defend his honor “against scurrilous and false allegations”.

His remarks came after sacked FBI Director James Comey said he believed he was fired to influence the agency’s investigation into Russian political meddling.

US intelligence agencies believe that Moscow interfered in the last year’s election in order to help Donald Trump get elected.

The Senate committee is of one several congressional panels that, along with a special counsel, is also investigating whether any Trump campaign officials colluded with the alleged Kremlin plot.

Image source Wikimedia

Jeff Sessions told the Senate committee he has never received a classified briefing about Russian meddling in last year’s election.

He also vehemently denied speaking to Russian officials about the election, during a campaign in which he was a close adviser to Donald Trump.

Jeff Sessions said on June 13: “I have never met with or had any conversation with any Russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election in the United States.”

He is the most senior member of the Trump administration to testify before the Senate committee.

Jeff Sessions acknowledged he met Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak twice, but suggested he could not remember whether he met the envoy at a foreign policy speech event for then-candidate Donald Trump at the Mayflower Hotel on April 27, 2016, as media have reported.

The former Alabama senator also denied media reports that he offered his resignation when Donald Trump was reportedly angered by his recusal from the FBI Russia probe, telling the panel he “will not be deterred”.

Vice-Chairman Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat, pressed Jeff Sessions about his role in the sacking of James Comey.

Jeff Sessions said he never spoke to the former FBI director, who reports to the US attorney general, about his job performance before President Trump fired him in May.

However, Jeff Sessions did confirm James Comey’s assertion that he told the US attorney general that he felt uncomfortable speaking directly to President Trump in a one-on-one setting.

Several Democratic senators expressed frustration because Jeff Sessions repeatedly refused to answer questions relating to conversations he had with the president.

Similar answers were heard last week during testimony from intelligence chiefs before the same panel.

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Jeff Sessions announces he will appear before a Senate panel in response to former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony.

The US Attorney General will appear before the Senate intelligence committee on June 13, he announced in a letter.

Jeff Sessions said the decision had been made “in light of Mr. Comey’s recent testimony”.

James Comey told the panel this week that he had asked Jeff Sessions to “prevent any future direct communication between the president and me”.

The testimony made headlines around the world, as it was the first time James Comey had publicly given his side of the apparent fall-out between himself and President Donald Trump in the run-up to his being fired in May.

In his letter on June 10, Jeff Sessions said: “It is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum.”

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Jeff Sessions had been due to appear before the Senate and House appropriations subcommittees on June 6. He said in the letter deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein would attend instead.

He removed himself from the FBI’s inquiry into alleged Russian meddling in the US election back in March after it emerged he had met Moscow’s envoy during last year’s White House race.

James Comey told the Senate there were a “variety of reasons” why Jeff Sessions’ involvement in the investigation of Russia’s alleged interference would be problematic.

However, he said he was unable to speak about them in an open session of the hearing.

James Comey also told the Senate that the Trump administration’s comments about him and the FBI were “lies plain and simple”.

He said he was “confused” by the “shifting explanations” for his sacking, which came as he led an inquiry into any links between the Trump campaign and Russia.

President Trump later said he never sought to impede the inquiry, and accused James Comey of saying some things that “just weren’t true”.

The president has said he is “100%” willing to speak under oath about his conversations, denying he asked for James Comey’s loyalty or for the inquiry into former White House aide Michael Flynn to be dropped.

President Trump went on to say he was considering releasing further information about possible recordings of the conversations between himself and James Comey.

Shortly after the press conference, leaders of the House intelligence committee said they had asked the White House whether there were any such tapes.

The House panel requested that if the recordings existed, they should be submitted by June 23.

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