Key exchanges from Jeff Sessions’ testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee
Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, in testimony Tuesday before a Senate committee, repeatedly denied suggestions that he had improper contact with Russian authorities. He also repeatedly said he did not recall details of the meetings he has acknowledged. Here’s a look at a few of the exchanges — some heated — that the former senator had with longtime colleagues over the course of his appearance.
Corroborating Comey’s meeting with Trump
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) & Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions
Rubio attempted to obtain specifics of a Feb. 14 meeting between Trump and former FBI Director James B. Comey, though Sessions said he was not in the room during the conversation. Comey has said the meeting concerned, in part, what appeared to be an attempt to get him to back off an investigation of former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Sessions confirmed that Comey approached him the day after the meeting to request that he no longer be left alone with the president.
Sen. Rubio
"There was a meeting in the Oval Office on the 14th, and you recall being there along with him. At some point, the meeting concluded [and when] everyone got up to leave, the president asked Director Comey to stay behind. Correct?"
Atty. Gen. Sessions
"Well, that’s a communication in the White House that I would not comment on."
Rubio
"You remember seeing him stay behind?"
Sessions
"Yes."
Rubio
"OK. And his testimony was that you lingered. And his view of it was that you lingered because you knew that you needed to stay. That was his characterization. Do you remember lingering? Do you remember feeling like you needed to stay?"
Sessions
"I do recall being one of the last ones to leave, yes."
Rubio
"Did you decide to be one of the last ones to leave?"
Sessions
"I don’t know how that occurred. We had finished, I think, a counter-terrorism briefing. A number of people were there, and people were filtering out. And I eventually left. And I do recall that, I think I was the last, or one of the last two or three to leave."
Rubio
"Would it be fair to say that you felt like perhaps you needed to stay because it involved the FBI director?"
Sessions
"Well, I don’t know how I would characterize that, Sen. Rubio. I left. It didn’t seem to me to be a major problem. I knew that Director Comey, longtime experienced in the Department of Justice, could handle himself well."
Rubio
"So you saw him after that. He characterized it as, he went up to you and said, ‘You know, never leave me alone with the president again, it’s not appropriate.’ And he said — this is his characterization — you just kind of shrugged like, as if to say, 'What am I supposed to do about it?'"
Sessions
"Well, I think I described it more completely, correctly. He raised that issue with me, I believe, the next day. I think that was correct. And he expressed concern to me about that private conversation. And I agreed with him, essentially, that there are rules on private conversations with the president, but there’s not a prohibition on private discussion with the president, as I believe he’s acknowledged six or more, himself, with President Obama and President Trump. So I didn’t feel like that’s a … and he gave me no detail about what it was that he was concerned about."
'Stonewalling'
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) & Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions
Sessions refused to answer questions about his private conversations with Trump — answers that might shed light on Comey’s firing. He pushed back on charges from Wyden that he was 'stonewalling' in refusing to answer these questions.
Sen. Wyden
"I believe the American people have had it with stonewalling. Americans don’t want to hear that answers to relevant questions are privileged and off-limits, or that they can’t be provided in public, or that it would be, quote, 'inappropriate' for witnesses to tell us what they know. We are talking about an attack on our democratic institutions, and stonewalling of any kind is unacceptable. [Atty.] Gen. Sessions has acknowledged that there is no legal basis for this stonewalling."
Atty. Gen. Sessions
"Sen. Wyden, I am not stonewalling. I am following the historic policies of the Department of Justice. You do not walk into any hearing or committee meeting and reveal confidential communications with the president of the United States, who’s entitled to receive confidential communications in your best judgment about a host of issues. And … I have been accused of stonewalling for not answering them. So I would push back on that."
Wyden
"[Atty.] Gen. Sessions, respectfully, you’re not answering the question."
Sessions
"Well, what is the question?"
Wyden
"The question is, Mr. Comey said that there were matters with respect to [your] recusal [from the Russia investigation] that were problematic and he couldn’t talk about them. What are they?"
Sessions
"Why don’t you tell me? There are none, Sen. Wyden. There are none. I can tell you that for absolute certain. … This is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, and I don’t appreciate it, and I’ve tried to give my best and truthful answers to any committee I’ve appeared before. And it’s really — people are suggesting through innuendo that I have not been honest about matters, and I’ve tried to be honest."
WILL NEITHER CONFIRM NOR DENY
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) & Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions
Sessions evaded several of Feinstein's questions, often saying that he couldn't confirm, deny or comment at all on the incidents in question.
Sen. Feinstein
"When you wrote your letter on May 9, did you know that the president had already decided to fire Director Comey?"
Atty. Gen. Sessions
"Sen. Feinstein, I would say that I believe it has been made public that the president asked us our opinion, it was given, and he asked us to put that into writing. And I don't know how much more he said about it than that, but I believe he has talked about it. And I would let his words speak for themselves."
Feinstein
"Well, on May 11 on 'NBC Nightly News,' two days later, the president stated he was going to fire Comey regardless of the recommendation. So I'm puzzled about the recommendation, because the decision had been made. So what was the need for you to write a recommendation?"
Sessions
"Well, we were asked our opinion, and when we expressed it, which was consistent with the memorandum and the letter we wrote, I felt comfortable — and I guess the deputy attorney general did too — in providing that information in writing."
Feinstein
"So do you concur with the president that he was going to fire Comey regardless of recommendation, because the problem was the Russia investigation?"
Sessions
"Sen. Feinstein, I guess I’ll just have to let his words speak for himself. I'm not sure what was in his mind explicitly when we talked with him."
Feinstein
"Did you ever discuss Director Comey's FBI handling of the Russia investigations with the president or anyone else?"
Sessions
"Sen. Feinstein, that would call for a communication between the attorney general and the president —"
Feinstein
"I understand that."
Sessions
"— and I'm not able to comment on that."
Feinstein
"You are not able to answer the question here, whether you ever discussed that with him?"
Sessions
"That's correct."
Feinstein
"And how do you view that -- since you discussed his termination, why wouldn't you discuss the reasons?"
Sessions
"Those were put in writing and sent to the president, and he made those public. So he made that public, not —" [Crosstalk]
Feinstein
"So you’d had no verbal conversation with him about the firing of Mr. Comey?"
Sessions
"I'm not able to discuss with you, or confirm or deny, the nature of private conversations that I may have had with the president on this subject or others. And I know that, how this will be discussed, but that's the rule that's been long adhered to by the Department of Justice, as you know, Sen. Feinstein."
Feinstein
"You're a longtime colleague, but we heard [Director of National Intelligence] Mr. [Dan] Coats and we heard [National Security Agency Director] Adm. [Michael S.] Rogers say essentially the same thing when it was easy just to say, if the answer was no, 'no.'"
Sessions
"Well, the easy - it would've been easier to say, if it was yes, 'yes.' But both would have been improper."
‘Do you like spy fiction?’
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) & Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions
Sessions thanked his fellow Republican for the opportunity 'to at least be able to say publicly I didn't participate in that and know nothing about it' in relation to collusion with Russians.
Sen. Cotton
"Mr. Sessions, are you familiar with what spies called tradecraft?"
Atty. Gen. Sessions
"A little bit."
Cotton
"That involves things like covert communications and dead drops and brush passes, right?"
Sessions
"That is part of it."
Cotton
"Do you like spy fiction -- John le Carre, Daniel Silva, Jason Matthews?"
Sessions
"Yeah, Alan Furst, David Ignatius. I just finished Ignatius' book."
Cotton
"Do you like Jason Bourne or James Bond movies?"
Sessions
"No. [laughter] Yes, I do."
Cotton
"Have you ever, in any of the fantastical situations, heard of a plot line so ridiculous that a sitting United States senator and an ambassador of a foreign government colluded in an open setting with hundreds of other people to pull off the greatest caper in the history of espionage?"
Sessions
"Thank you for saying that, Sen. Cotton. It’s just like ‘Through the Looking-Glass.’ I mean what is this? I explained how, in good faith, I said I had not met with Russians because they were suggesting I, as a surrogate, had been meeting continuously with Russians. I said I didn't meet with them."
A tense exchange
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) & Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions
In a tense exchange, Harris pressed Sessions about his contacts with Russians; he complained that she was rushing him to answer.
Sen. Harris
"Did you have any communication with Russian businessmen or any Russian nationals?"
Atty. Gen. Sessions
"I don’t believe I had any conversation with Russian businessmen or Russian nationals. …. A lot of people were at the convention. It’s conceivable that somebody came up to me …"
Harris
"Sir, sir, I have just a few minutes."
Sessions
"Will you let me qualify it? I … if I don’t qualify it, you’ll accuse me of lying, so I need to be correct as best I can."
Harris
"I do want you to be honest."
Sessions
"And I’m not able to be rushed this fast. It makes me nervous."
Harris
"Are you aware of any communications with other Trump campaign officials and associates that they had with Russian officials or any Russian nationals?"
Sessions
"I don’t recall that —"
Harris
"And are you aware — "
Sessions
"— at this moment."
Harris
"And are you aware of any communications with any Trump officials, or did you have any communications with any officials about Russia or Russian interests in the United States before Jan. 20?"
Sessions
"No. I may have had some conversations — and I think I did — with the general strategic concept of the possibility of whether or not Russia and the United States could get on a more harmonious relationship and move off the hostility. The Soviet Union did, in fact, collapse and it’s really a tragic —"
Harris
"Thank you."
Sessions
"— strategic event that we are not able to get along better than we are today."
Credits: Design and development by Priya Krishnakumar. Additional production by Megan Garvey and Kelcey Caulder.