Democrats to question U.S. Attorney General on Russia meetings

[webfact]

Democrats to question U.S. Attorney General on Russia meetings

By Sarah N. Lynch

 

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions makes a statement regarding national security in New York, U.S., November 2, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will face a barrage of questions from Democrats in the House of Representatives on Tuesday over whether he lied about communications between President Donald Trump's election campaign and Russian representatives.

 

Sessions is due to testify before the House Judiciary Committee for a routine oversight hearing, but Democrats on the panel will grill him about a series of statements he made to the Senate Judiciary Committee, in which he denied knowing about meetings between campaign aides and Russians.

 

"We intend to ask you about these inconsistencies," the committee's Democratic members said in a Nov. 7 letter to Sessions, who has recused himself from investigations into the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Moscow meddled in the 2016 U.S.

election to help then-Republican candidate Donald Trump's campaign. "We are providing you notice in advance because we expect you to respond."

 

Sessions, a former U.S. Senator who was involved in Trump's campaign, has repeatedly denied misleading Congress, saying his prior statements under oath were all true.

 

His testimony at his confirmation hearing in January and at a Senate Judiciary hearing in October was questioned after a special counsel last month unsealed charges against former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos in the Russia-Trump probe.

 

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied allegations of interfering in the U.S. election and Trump denies any collusion between his campaign and Russian officials.

 

In court records, prosecutors said Papadopoulos told a March 31, 2016 meeting of campaign officials that he had Russian connections and could help arrange a meeting with Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

A photograph posted on Trump's Instagram account shows that Papadopoulos, Sessions and Trump were all seated at the same table in that meeting.

 

According to a source familiar with the matter, Sessions shut down Papadopoulos' idea of engaging with Russia, and the Trump administration has played down Papadopoulos' role in the campaign, saying he was nothing more than a low level volunteer.

 

But the court documents, and Papadopoulos' guilty plea for lying to the FBI over his contacts with Russian officials, put new focus on Sessions' earlier testimony.

 

Sessions said during January's confirmation hearing that he was unaware of communications between the campaign and Russia.

After the hearing, news reports emerged showing that Sessions had himself met with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak at least twice in 2016.

 

Under pressure, Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, a decision that later helped pave the way for the appointment of former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to lead the investigation.

 

In another Senate hearing last month, Sessions testified he had no improper involvement with Russians and was not aware of anyone else from the campaign who did.

 

"Attorney General Sessions has misrepresented the truth ... time and time again," Al Franken, a Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee member, said on the Senate floor on Monday.

 

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; editing by Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-11-14

[zaphod reborn]

The ultimate double-standard by the Republican Congress:

Lie about a bj = impeachment

Lie about treasonous collusion with Russia = forgiven

Edited November 14, 2017 by zaphod reborn

[Thakkar]

To all Trump supporters: please don’t call this a witch hunt. It’s an elf hunt.

[riclag]

1 hour ago, Thakkar said:

To all Trump supporters: please don’t call this a witch hunt. It’s an elf hunt.

 According to sources Santa's helper will be spreading some Christmas cheer at the House Judiciary Committee meeting as well.He most notably will be asked questions about whether he intends to appoint a special counsel to investigate matters related to Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, the Uranium One sale, and former FBI director James Comey’s leaks about his conversations with president Trump.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/11/sessions-tells-doj-to-evaluate-call-for-new-clinton-probes.html

Edited November 14, 2017 by riclag

[Thakkar]

Just 29 days ago:

 

Franken: “You don’t believe that surrogates from the Trump campaign had communications with the Russians?”
 
Sessions: “I did not — and I’m not aware of anyone else that did. I don’t believe that it happened.”

[alanrchase]

For once Trump spoke the truth when he said the justice system was a laughing stock. A laughing stock of his own making.