United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, called accusations that the Trump administration has inappropriate links to Russia a “detestable lie”. Sessions’ testimony comes days after sacked Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey told the committee that the Russia links were undeniable, that he was fired for investigating them and that the Trump administration had openly lied to the American people.
Sessions denied having secret meetings with Russian officials, but also repeatedly refused to answer questions on whether he spoke privately to President Donald Trump about the inquiry. “I have never met with or had any conversation with any Russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election in the United States,” Sessions said. He said he had no memory of meeting Russian Ambassador Sergei Kisliyak at an event in April 2016, despite several media reports claiming he did.
Immediately after his testimony, Sessions was widely criticised for leaving many key questions unanswered with statements such as “I don’t recall” and “I have no recollection”. Sessions was also evasive about his interactions with Comey, who reported directly to him while he was FBI director. Sessions said he never spoke to Comey about his job performance before he was fired.
Sessions was a key advisor for the Trump campaign in the run-up to the 2016 elections, which intelligence sources say were manipulated by Russia. In March, Sessions had recused himself from the investigations into the Russia inquiry after the reports on his undisclosed meetings with Russia officials surfaced.
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