“I am not stonewalling” — this entire Sessions/Wyden exchange is something t.co/2RtQhOmAXh
During his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions lost his temper and got into an argument with Democratic Senator Ron Wyden.
Senator Wyden began his line of questioning by aggressively saying that he’s tired of all the stonewalling and wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions to answer the questions being posed to him. From there, Wyden asked why FBI Director James Comey might have said last week that answering some questions about Sessions’ recusal would be problematic in a public setting.
“Why don’t you tell me?” Sessions responded, raising his voice. “There are none, Senator Wyden! There are none! I can tell you that for absolute certainty.”
Sessions went on to tell Wyden that he doesn’t appreciate what the senator and others are implying about him.
“This is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, and I don’t appreciate it, and I 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 been not honest about matters, and I’ve tried to be honest,” Sessions said.
When Senator Wyden again asked Sessions about why Comey might find Sessions remaining involved in the Russia probe problematic, Sessions said that a lot of this is based on information that leaked to the news media.
“Some of that leaked out of the committee that he said in closed sessions,” Sessions said.
Attorney General Sessions is referring to the fact that last week, CNN reported that James Comey told Congress in a closed hearing that Sessions may have had a third interaction with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. This alleged third meeting would have taken place at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC in April 2016, where Donald Trump gave a speech.
“Former FBI Director James Comey told senators in a closed hearing Thursday afternoon that Attorney General Jeff Sessions may have had a third interaction with Russia’s ambassador to the US, according to people familiar with the briefing,” CNN reported.
During his Senate testimony today, Jeff Sessions denied that this meeting took place.