By Matthew Vadum ——Bio and Archives--March 3, 2017
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Several of the President-elect’s nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?“No,” was the simple reply from Sessions. At a Jan. 10 hearing, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) asked the then-nominee about a CNN story “alleging that the intelligence community provided documents to the president-elect last week that included information that, quote, ‘Russian operatives claimed to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump.’” He continued:
These documents also allegedly say, quote, “There was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump’s surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government.” Now, again, I’m telling you this as it’s coming out, so, you know. But if it’s true, it’s obviously extremely serious, and if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do?Sessions replied:
Sen. Franken, I’m not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn’t have — did not have communications with the Russians, and I’m unable to comment on it. Former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy makes the point that in context Sessions “obviously meant that he did not have communications with the Russians in the capacity of a surrogate for the Trump campaign and that he was unable to comment on the explosive allegations in the dossier.” [emphasis original] The dossier refers to the discredited document dump that claimed Trump invited prostitutes to a Moscow hotel room to urinate on a bed. McCarthy continued:Manifestly, he was trying to say that he did not believe that Franken’s outline of the dossier provided any basis for him, Sessions, to recuse himself from any potential investigation. He was not saying that in his capacity as a United States senator, unrelated to the Trump campaign, he had never had any contacts with Russian officials.Left-wing law professor Jonathan Turley was not impressed. He said on television that there was “no crime here” and that the question posed to Sessions “was not a model of clarity.” He added that in his opinion there was “no compelling or cognizable case for perjury.” Nonetheless, because he was a Trump advocate who happened to be in the room on the two occasions and spoke to Kislyak, however inconsequentially, Sessions acknowledged at the media event yesterday that he could be perceived as less than impartial in any Justice Department investigation.First, about the comments that I made to the committee that have been said to be incorrect and false, let me be clear. I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign. And the idea that I was part of a quote, “continuing exchange of information” during the campaign between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government is totally false.The attorney general said he asked his staff “for their candid and honest opinion about what I should do about investigations, certain investigations, and my staff recommended recusal,” because he had been involved with the Trump campaign. “I have studied the rules and considered their comments and evaluation,” Sessions said. “I believe those recommendations are right and just.”Becoming even more obvious that rogue elements of the intelligence community are fragging a top member of the Trump cabinet in order to hurt the administration
So, Sessions did the honorable, ethical thing and agreed not to preside over the investigation, if there is one in progress or in the future. Aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, President Trump said he didn’t know Sessions had met with the Russian ambassador and didn’t think he should recuse himself. Hours later Trump published a series of tweets.Jeff Sessions is an honest man. He did not say anything wrong. He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not intentional. This whole narrative is a way of saving face for Democrats losing an election that everyone thought they were supposed to win. The Democrats are overplaying their hand. They lost the election, and now they have lost their grip on reality. The real story is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total “witch hunt!”It sure looks like a witch hunt. It is becoming even more obvious than it was a week ago that rogue elements of the intelligence community are fragging a top member of the Trump cabinet in order to hurt the administration. In Congress, lawmakers from both parties have been tripping over each other in the rush to throw Sessions under the bus. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said Wednesday that if Sessions had indeed spoken with Kislyak, “then for sure you need a special prosecutor.” "AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself," House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) tweeted yesterday.As they try to lynch Sessions to appease their crazed base, Democrats are holding a Hypocrisy Olympics right now
As they try to lynch Sessions to appease their crazed base, Democrats are holding a Hypocrisy Olympics right now. Kislyak himself attended Trump’s triumphant congressional address Tuesday night and was spotted sitting among Democratic lawmakers and mingling with them. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) put her foot in her taxpayer-subsidized mouth yesterday as she called on Sessions to resign. “As the chief law enforcement officer in this nation, he should resign. He sets the example, [a] good prosecutor knows better[,]” she tweeted. She added, “I’ve been on the Armed Services Com[mittee] for 10 years. No call or meeting w[ith] Russian ambassador. Ever. Ambassadors call members of [the] Foreign Rel[ations] Com[mittee].” But two old tweets of hers from 2015 and 2013 surfaced. The most recent one reads, “Today calls with British, Russian, and German Ambassadors re: Iran deal. #doingmyhomework[.]” In the 2013 tweet she wrote, “Off to meeting w[ith] Russian Ambassador. Upset about the arbitrary/cruel decision to end all US adoptions, even those in process.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, demanded in a letter with the other eight Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee that Sessions recuse himself or resign from his post. Yet she acknowledges meeting with Kislyak “in my office from time to time.” Commentator Brit Hume tweeted yesterday, “The last time I was in the Senate dining room, Feinstein was having lunch with the Russian amb[assador]. I never gave it a second thought.” Let the games begin.
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Matthew Vadum, matthewvadum.blogspot.com, is an investigative reporter.
His new book Subversion Inc. can be bought at Amazon.com (US), Amazon.ca (Canada)
Visit the Subversion Inc. Facebook page. Follow me on Twitter.