The panel’s top Democrat said he wants answers on Sessions’ role in the firing of James Comey.
Didn’t get enough of James Comey and the Russia investigation at Thursday’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing? Don’t fret. There’s more coming next week.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions will face questions Tuesday about his role in Comey’s firing when he appears before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science.
The hearing is supposed to focus on the 2017 budget request for the Department of Justice. But Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the senior Democrat on the overall Appropriations Committee and a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Thursday he will press Sessions about his role in President Trump’s May decision to fire Comey as FBI director.
Trump originally said he fired Comey on Sessions’ recommendation. The president later said he made that decision on his own.
Sessions’ role in Comey’s firing has raised questions because the attorney general recused himself about two months before Comey’s firing from any investigations of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
« I am… deeply concerned about the Attorney General’s role in firing Director Comey in light of his recusal from the Russia investigation, » Leahy said in a statement. « Former Director Comey testified (Thursday) that he expected the Attorney General to recuse himself from the Russia investigation weeks before the Attorney General made that decision himself, because of matters that could not be discussed publicly. This raises even more questions about the Attorney General’s actions. »
Leahy said he also has been wanting to confront Sessions for months about his « false testimony » to the Judiciary Committee regarding his contacts with Russian officials.
Sessions, a former Alabama senator, testified at his confirmation hearing in January that he “did not have communications with the Russians” as an adviser to Trump’s campaign. However, Sessions met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in September at his Senate office, a meeting that Sessions confirmed after it was reported by news organizations. Sessions announced in early March that he would recuse himself from any Russia investigations.
« I have sought for months to clarify Attorney General Sessions’ contacts with Russian officials following his false testimony in response to questions from me and from Senator (Al) Franken, » Leahy said. « We wrote to the FBI requesting that they investigate such matters. »
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