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2480d ago / 8:34 PM UTC

Sessions, Refusing to Answer Questions, Takes Cue From Coats, Rogers

Like Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and NSA Director Michael Rogers did last week, Sessions is refusing to answer some questions but he is not claiming national security and the president did not assert executive privilege.

Coats' and Rogers' unwillingness to respond to the committee resulted in a testy exchange with Senator Angus King, I-Maine, who continued his mission to get witnesses to answer questions Tuesday. 

— Greta Van Susteren

2480d ago / 9:48 PM UTC

Senate Restricts Reporters Prior to Testimony, Then Backtracks

The GOP chairman of the Senate Rules Committee quickly backed down from an apparent attempt to impose new restrictions on reporters Tuesday prior to Sessions' testimony. 

Reporters have for decades freely approached senators in the hallways and outside the meeting rooms of the Capitol for impromptu interviews, so they were stunned and outraged when told Tuesday morning they would now need prior approval from the senator before asking questions on camera in the Senate.

By the end of the day, however, Rules Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL), said there would be no changes to the rules — for now at least. “No additional restrictions have been put in place by the Rules Committee," Shelby said. 

The Capitol has been unusually crowded with reporters lately, raising legitimate concerns about the safety of lawmakers and reporters alike, especially around heavy TV cameras.

But many senators — including Republican and Democratic senators — viewed the new restrictions as overly draconian. The Radio and Television Correspondents Association condemned the new rules “in the strongest possible terms" while the National Press Club's Journalism Institute said, "We remain concerned that such constitutionally questionable practices were even discussed at all."

— Alex Seitz-Wald 

2480d ago / 9:14 PM UTC

Sessions: FBI Probe of Clinton's Emails Should Not Have Been Publicly Discussed

Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island dug in by asking Sessions about his past praise for Comey.

He then questioned him specifically about the decision-making process for Comey’s public announcements regarding the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email use. Comey’s October announcement that the FBI would reopen its probe has been cited by Clinton herself as derailing her campaign at a crucial moment.

Sessions said the reason Comey needed to announce reopening the investigation was because he’d already come out with other developments.

Sessions' larger takeaway? The investigation should never have been discussed publicly at all.

“It would have been better… never to have talked about that investigation to begin with,” Sessions said.

“It went against classical prosecutorial policies that I learned when I was a U.S. Attorney and an Assistant U.S. Attorney.”

— Joy Y. Wang 

2480d ago / 9:00 PM UTC

White House Reacts to Sessions: 'Pretty Impressed'

A glimpse inside West Wing thinking: A senior administration official says they're "pretty impressed" with Sessions' testimony so far; they like that he came out swinging. Note this is probably something President Trump will approve of, too, despite the recent tension between him and his Attorney General. Sessions made a point to play the loyalty card to the president during today's hearing

One more note: Sessions said he wouldn't answer certain questions regarding private conversations with the president in part because the president hadn't reviewed the questions yet. We've asked the White House for further clarity on whether they will follow up with Sessions to allow him to answer those questions if he's called back before Congress, but no response yet.

— Hallie Jackson

2480d ago / 8:50 PM UTC

Cotton Pulling Questions From White House Playbook: What About the Leaks?

Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton asked a slew of questions that sounded an awful lot like the president’s own Tweets — was there collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign or is this a ridiculous witch hunt? And what about the leaks to the media? How are they being prosecuted?

His questioning of the Attorney General comes several hours after he and 14 other Republican senators had lunch with the president.

2480d ago / 8:47 PM UTC

Sen. Manchin Asks for 'Yes' or 'No' on Russian Collusion, Gets 'Don't Recall'

Sen. Joe Manchin pressed Sessions on whether he knew of any direct contact between Russian officials and Trump’s advisers.

“I racked my brain and I do not believe so,” Sessions said. “I can assure you that none of those meetings discussed manipulating those campaigns in any shape or form.”

Manchin asked Sessions whether specific advisers had contact with Russian officials. The senator ran down a list of names, asking the attorney general to simply answer “yes” or “no.” Here’s how that exchange played out.

Paul Manafort: “I don’t have any information that he had done so…”

Steve Bannon: “I have no information that he did.”

Michael Flynn: “I don’t recall it.”

Reince Preibus: “I don’t recall.”

Stephen Miller: “I don’t recall him ever having such a conversation.”

Corey Lewandowski: “I don’t recall any of those individuals having any meeting with Russian officials.”

Cater Page: “I don’t know.”

Sessions elaborated a bit on Page. “There may have been some published account of Mr. Page talking with Russians but I’m not sure," he said.

So much for “yes” or “no.”

— Joy Y. Wang

2480d ago / 8:34 PM UTC

King: Can't Have It Both Ways On Executive Privilege

Independent Maine Sen. Angus King pressed Sessions again on his determination not to answer questions about his conversations with the president, adding his name to the list of senators arguing Sessions lacked all legal right to do so.

“The president hasn’t asserted [executive privilege], you said you don’t have the power to exert,” King said, arguing that the attorney general was trying to have it "both ways." Executive privilege allows a president, or executive branch members, to withhold information from subpoenas and other requests because of its ties to the administration and its work.

Sessions pushed back: “I am protecting the right of the president to assert it if he chooses, or there may be other privilege ... It would be premature for me to deny the president a full and intelligent choice—”

King interjected to press Sessions about the testimony he'd given earlier in the session — that the president had asked for his opinion on James Comey’s role at the head of the FBI — and asked why that wasn’t confidential.

Sessions insisted that he spoke about that interaction because the president had already spoke about it publicly. 

—Jane Timm

2480d ago / 8:13 PM UTC

Dem Senator Slams Sessions: ‘You Are Obstructing’

Democrat Sen. Martin Heinrich repeatedly pushed back against the Attorney General’s claim that he could not speak about conversations with the president because Trump might want to invoke executive privilege.

“My understanding to this, you took an oath…to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and now you’re not telling the truth,” the senator from New Mexico said, arguing that Sessions had no legal standard for claiming “appropriateness” as his reason for refusing to answer questions.

“You are obstructing," he said defiantly, as Sessions insisted that he could refuse to answer questions without executive privilege being invoked. 

“It’s my judgment that it would be inappropriate for me to answer and reveal private conversations with the president when he has not had the opportunity to approve such an answer," Sessions said. 

—Jane C. Timm

2480d ago / 8:01 PM UTC

Sessions: Comey Could Handle Himself

Sessions repeatedly dodged questions from Republican Sen. Marco Rubio on a private meeting the president had with the then-FBI Director James Comey, saying only that he was one of the last individuals to leave the room and that Comey was still in the room. Comey previously testified under oath that the president asked Sessions and other officials to leave.

“I left, it didn’t seem to me to be a major problem, I knew that Director Comey…could handle himself,” Sessions said, mere minutes after describing his conviction that Comey would have to be removed from his position in favor of a "fresh start" because he was performing well at his job. 

Asked if he knew if the president records conversations in the Oval Office and if there would be an obligation to preserve those recordings if so, Sessions said he did not know —  but they “probably” would have to be preserved. 

—Jane C. Timm

2480d ago / 7:38 PM UTC

What It Sounds Like When a Former Colleague Appears Before the Senate

I was curious what the tone would be of the opening statements, since Attorney General Sessions was a colleague before taking the role in Trump's administration.

Ranking Member Senator Mark Warner was cordial but stern. Sessions' opening statement was broad and anticipatory — meaning he was anticipating all the questions the senators would have for him and tactically wanted to get out ahead of those questions with his opening statements.

— Greta Van Susteren 

2480d ago / 6:57 PM UTC

Burr to Sessions: This Is Your Chance to Set the Record Straight

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr laid out what he hoped to address during Sessions' testimony on Tuesday in his opening remarks. 

Here's what he said:

Attorney General Sessions, this venue is your opportunity to separate fact from fiction and to set the record straight on a number of allegations reported in the press. For example, there are several issues that I am hopeful we will address today:

  1. Did you have any meetings with Russian officials or their proxies on behalf of the Trump campaign or during your time as Attorney General?
  2. What was your involvement with candidate-Trump’s foreign policy team, and what were their possible interactions with Russians?
  3. Why did you decide to recuse yourself from the Government’s Russia investigation? And,
  4. What role, if any, did you play in the removal of then-FBI Director Comey?