Sessions, Russians and the Press
Well the supposed Russian connections and the Trump campaign saga continues.
Now the Press has zeroed in on Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Fox News is reporting on claims that AG Sessions had two “meetings” with the Russian Ambassador prior to President Trump’s election.
AG Sessions was contacted by Fox News late Wednesday and he was quoted in the article stating:
"I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
The Justice Department said late Wednesday that there were two meetings
- One of the discussions between Sessions and Sergey Kislyak was an office visit that occurred in Sessions' capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
- The second conversation took place in a group setting with other ambassadors following a Heritage Foundation speech.
From what we know right now we can throw out the second meeting since it was after a Heritage Foundation speech that took place among many ambassadors, but we are left with one. The one in which he stated he met with the Ambassador as a member of the Senate Armed Services committee.
The issue with the meeting we are left with comes into question because during Senator Sessions confirmation hearing he was asked by Senator Al Franken, D-Minn., how he would respond to the following question:
"if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign."
Senator Sessions answered that question in the following way:
“I’m not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians, and I’m unable to comment on it.”
Attorney General Sessions said in a statement issued shortly before midnight last night that he had not addressed election matters with the ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, in fact he said:
“I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign,” Mr. Sessions said. “I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.”
The Justice Department also said late Wednesday that:
"there was absolutely nothing misleading about [Sessions'] answer [to Franken]. He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign--not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee."
It should be noted that Senator Sessions had meetings last year with more than 25 foreign ambassadors.
So we are left with the question whether you believe he answered Democrat Senator Al Franken correctly and fairly during his confirmation hearing. To that I say yes he did. The question was about the campaign. Lawyers are trained and also tell their clients to never give more information than the question asked, otherwise only answer the question and give them no more information.
Now you can say that AG Sessions should have interpreted the question to mean other things but I would then ask of you would you do so in a court of law or in any other official capacity.
Another question is why he met with the Russian Ambassador as a sitting member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and what did they speak about. That is a fair question which then brings up another question. Can he speak freely about why they met and what was said?
Many times there are a multitude of layers to the controversies that abound in Washington, remember it is a gotcha game when it comes to these political parties. When you hear about these “controversies” no matter if you want to or do not want to believe them you should always hold your powder dry until as much of the information as possible is out there to help you make your decision or form your thought.
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