{"id":33997,"date":"2017-06-12T06:37:52","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T06:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=33997"},"modified":"2017-06-12T06:37:52","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T06:37:52","slug":"us-attorney-general-jeff-sessions-to-face-questions-on-comey-firing-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=33997","title":{"rendered":"US attorney general Jeff Sessions to face questions on Comey firing, Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sessions\"Sessions would be the highest government official to testify over the allegations that Russia may have sought to interfere in the election<\/h2>\n
Attorney General Jeff Sessions will face questions about the firing of FBI Director James Comey and undeclared meetings with Russian officials at a US Senate hearing on Tuesday, though it was unclear whether he would testify in public or in private.<\/div>\n
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Sessions, an early and ardent supporter of US President Donald Trump\u2019s 2016 election campaign, would be the highest government official to testify before the Senate intelligence committee in its probe of allegations that Russia may have sought to interfere in the election.<\/p>\n

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer and fellow Democratic Senator Jack Reed questioned on Sunday why Sessions was involved in Trump\u2019s May 9 dismissal of Comey after he had recused himself from investigations of whether Russia meddled in the election, possibly with help from Trump associates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a real question of the propriety of the attorney general participating in that in any way, shape or form,\u201d Reed said on \u201cFox News Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia has denied interfering in the US election. The White House has denied any collusion with Moscow.<\/p>\n

Sessions said in a letter on Saturday that he would appear before the committee to address matters that Comey brought up last week in testimony to the same panel.<\/p>\n

He did not say if he would appear in open or closed session. Democrats are pushing for a public hearing. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, an intelligence committee member, asked the panel\u2019s leaders in a letter on Sunday to hold an open hearing.<\/p>\n

A Justice Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity initially said the department expected Sessions to testify in closed session but later stressed that the decision was up to the panel\u2019s Republican chairman, Senator Richard Burr.<\/p>\n

Trump under oath?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Comey\u2019s dramatic testimony drew invective from his former boss on Twitter, with Trump dismissing him as a leaker on Friday and a coward on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very \u2018cowardly!'\u201d Trump tweeted on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The president denied trying to interfere with the investigation and said he would be willing to testify under oath about his interactions with Comey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to keep in mind that this is one person\u2019s record of what happened. The only two people who know what happened in those meetings are the president and James Comey,\u201d Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox.<\/p>\n

Schumer invited Trump to testify under oath before the Senate and he urged Trump to produce any tapes of his conversations with Comey. \u201cIf there aren\u2019t tapes, he should let that be known. No more game playing,\u201d Schumer said on CBS.<\/p>\n

Trump alluded to tapes in a May tweet. Comey welcomed any tapes during his hearing, and congressional investigators have asked the White House to produce them if they exist.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s tendency to bring up the Russia investigation, whether by insulting Comey or hinting at the existence of tapes, has created a headache for Republicans who want to focus on the party\u2019s priorities such as healthcare and tax reform.<\/p>\n

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Sunday accused Trump of getting in the way of his own agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou may be the first president in history to go down because you can\u2019t stop inappropriately talking about an investigation that if you just were quiet, would clear you,\u201d Graham said on CBS. \u201cYou are your own worst enemy, Mr. President. Knock it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Sessions spokeswoman said she did not know if it would be public. \u201cThat\u2019s a question for the committee,\u201d said Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores.<\/p>\n

Republican Senator James Lankford, a member of the intelligence panel, told CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation\u201d the decision was not finalised, but \u201cI assume that this will be public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sessions is skipping a separate hearing on Tuesday on the Justice Department\u2019s budget and sending his deputy for the session that will be open to the public.<\/p>\n

Senator Patrick Leahy, the Senate appropriations committee\u2019s top Democrat and a member of the Senate judiciary committee, tartly reminded Sessions that both oversee his department.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to testify before both in public. You can\u2019t run forever,\u201d Leahy tweeted.<\/p>\n

Media reports last week said Sessions offered to resign because of tensions with the president over his decision to recuse himself from the FBI\u2019s Russia probe.<\/p>\n

Comey accused the Republican president of trying to get him to drop the investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn and fired him to undermine the Russia probe.<\/p>\n

Trump himself attributed his dismissal of Comey to the Russia investigation.<\/p>\n

Comey\u2019s testimony on Thursday also raised new questions about the attorney general\u2019s relationship with Russian officials with ties to President Vladimir Putin. One is whether Sessions had any undisclosed meetings with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak or other Russians during the campaign or after Trump took office.<\/p>\n

Sessions in March removed himself from involvement in any probe into alleged Russian election meddling but maintained he did nothing wrong by failing to disclose that he met last year with Russia\u2019s ambassador.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sessions would be the highest government official to testify over the allegations that Russia may have sought to interfere in the election Attorney General Jeff Sessions will face questions about the firing of FBI Director James Comey and undeclared meetings with Russian officials at a US Senate hearing on Tuesday, though it was unclear whether […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":33998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n