FULL OPENING STATEMENT: Attorney General Jeff Sessions Senate Intelligence Hearing (FNN) — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00solemnly swear to tell the whole TR the
2. 0:01truth and the whole truth and nothing
3. 0:03but the truth so help you God I do
4. 0:05please be
5. 0:07seated thank you Attorney General
6. 0:09Session the floor is
7. 0:12yours thank you much thank you very much
8. 0:14chairman Burr and ranking member Warner
9. 0:17for allowing me to publicly appear
10. 0:19before your committee today I appreciate
11. 0:22the committee's critically important
12. 0:24efforts to investigate Russian
13. 0:26interference with our Democratic
14. 0:28processes such interference can never be
15. 0:32tolerated and I encourage every effort
16. 0:35uh to get to the bottom of any such
17. 0:38allegations as you know the deputy
18. 0:40attorney general has appointed a special
19. 0:43counsel to investigate the matters
20. 0:45related to the Russian interference in
21. 0:47the 2016 election I'm here today to
22. 0:51address several issues that have been
23. 0:53specifically raised before this
24. 0:57committee and I appreciate the
25. 1:00opportunity to respond to questions as
26. 1:02fully as the Lord enables me to do so
27. 1:05but as I advise you Mr chairman and
28. 1:07consistent with long-standing Department
29. 1:09of Justice practice I cannot and will
30. 1:12not violate my duty to protect the
31. 1:14confidential Communications I have with
32. 1:17the president now let me address some
33. 1:20issues directly I did not have any
34. 1:22private meetings nor I do I recall any
35. 1:25conversations with any Russian officials
36. 1:28at the Mayflower Hotel I did not attend
37. 1:30any meetings at that event uh separate
38. 1:34prior of the speech I attended by the
39. 1:36president uh uh today I attended a
40. 1:40reception with my staff that included at
41. 1:43least two dozen people and president
42. 1:45Trump though I do recall several
43. 1:47conversations that I had during that
44. 1:50preech reception I do not have any
45. 1:53recollection of meeting or talking to
46. 1:55the Russian Ambassador or any other
47. 1:58Russian officials if any brief
48. 2:00interaction occurred in passing with the
49. 2:02Russian Ambassador during that reception
50. 2:05I do not remember it after the speech I
51. 2:08was interviewed by the news media there
52. 2:09was an area for that uh in a different
53. 2:12room and then I left the hotel but
54. 2:15whether I ever attended a reception
55. 2:18where where the Russian Ambassador was
56. 2:20also present is entirely beside the
57. 2:23point of this investigation into Russian
58. 2:26interference in the 2016 campaign let me
59. 2:30State this clearly colleagues I have
60. 2:33never met with or had any conversation
61. 2:37with any Russians or any foreign
62. 2:39officials concerning any type of
63. 2:41interference with any campaign or
64. 2:44election in the United States further I
65. 2:46have no knowledge of any such
66. 2:48conversations by anyone connected to the
67. 2:51Trump
68. 2:52campaign I was your colleague in this
69. 2:55body for 20 years at least some of you
70. 2:58and I particip I uh and the suggestion
71. 3:02that I participated in any collusion
72. 3:06that I was aware of any collusion with
73. 3:08the Russian government to hurt this
74. 3:11country which I have served with honor
75. 3:13for 35 years or to undermine the
76. 3:18Integrity of our Democratic process is
77. 3:20an appalling and detestable life
78. 3:24relatedly there is the assertion that I
79. 3:27that I did not answer Senator Franken
80. 3:29question honestly at my confirmation
81. 3:32hearing colleagues that is false I can't
82. 3:36say colleagues now I'm no longer a part
83. 3:39of this body but a former colleagues
84. 3:42that is false this is what
85. 3:45happened Senator Franken asked me a
86. 3:47rambling question after some six hours
87. 3:50of testimony that included dramatic new
88. 3:55allegations that the United States
89. 3:57intelligence Community the US
90. 4:00intelligence Community had advised
91. 4:03president elect Trump quote that there
92. 4:05was a continuing exchange of
93. 4:08information during the campaign between
94. 4:11Trump's surrogates and intermediaries
95. 4:14for the Russian government close quote I
96. 4:17was taken aback by that explosive
97. 4:20allegation which he said was being
98. 4:22reported as breaking news that very day
99. 4:26and which I had not heard I wanted to
100. 4:29refuse fute that immediately any
101. 4:32suggestion that I was part of such an
102. 4:34activity I replied quote I replied to
103. 4:38Senator Franken this way quote Senator
104. 4:40Franken I'm not aware of any of those
105. 4:43activities I have been called a serate a
106. 4:46time or two in that campaign and I did
107. 4:48not didn't have did not have
108. 4:50communications with the Russians and and
109. 4:53I'm unable to comment on it close quote
110. 4:57that was the context in which I was
111. 5:00asked the question and in that context
112. 5:03my answer was a fair and correct
113. 5:05response to the charge As I understood
114. 5:08it I was responding to this allegation
115. 5:11that we had met surrogates had been
116. 5:13meeting with the Russians on a regular
117. 5:15basis it simply did not occur to me to
118. 5:18go further than the context of the
119. 5:20question and to list any conversations
120. 5:23um that I may have had with Russians in
121. 5:26routine situations as I had had many
122. 5:30routine situa uh uh meetings with other
123. 5:33foreign officials so please hear me now
124. 5:37and it was only in March after my
125. 5:40confirmation hearing uh that a reporter
126. 5:43asked my spokesperson whether I had ever
127. 5:46met with any Russian officials this was
128. 5:49the first time that question had
129. 5:50squarely been posed to me on the same
130. 5:54day we provided that reporter with the
131. 5:56information related to the meeting that
132. 5:58I and my staff had held hel in my Senate
133. 6:00Office with Ambassador klak as well as
134. 6:04the brief encounter in July after a
135. 6:07speech that I had given during the
136. 6:09convention in Cleveland
137. 6:14Ohio I also provided the reporter with a
138. 6:17list of 25 foreign ambassador meetings
139. 6:20that I'd had during
140. 6:222016 in addition I provided supplemental
141. 6:25testimony to the Senate Judiciary
142. 6:28Committee to explain this event so I
143. 6:31read readily acknowledge these two
144. 6:34meetings and certainly not one thing
145. 6:37happened that was improper in any one of
146. 6:39those
147. 6:40meetings let me also explain clearly the
148. 6:43circumstances of my recusal from the
149. 6:46investigation into the Russian
150. 6:48interference with the 2016 election
151. 6:51please colleagues hear me on this I was
152. 6:54sworn in as Attorney General on Thursday
153. 6:57February 9th the very next day as I had
154. 7:01promised to the Judiciary Committee I
155. 7:03would do uh at least at an early date I
156. 7:06met with career Department officials
157. 7:08including senior eth a senior ethics
158. 7:11official to discuss some things publicly
159. 7:14reported in the press that might have
160. 7:16some bearing on whether or not I should
161. 7:18recuse myself in this case from that
162. 7:22point February 10th until I announced my
163. 7:25formal recusal on March 2nd I was never
164. 7:28briefed on on any investigative details
165. 7:32did not access any information about the
166. 7:36investigation I received Only The
167. 7:38Limited information that the
168. 7:40Department's career officials determined
169. 7:42was necessary for me to form and make a
170. 7:45recusal decision as such I have no
171. 7:49knowledge about this investigation as it
172. 7:51on is ongoing today beyond what has been
173. 7:55publicly reported I don't even read that
174. 7:57carefully and I have taken no action
175. 8:00whatsoever with regard to any such
176. 8:04investigation on the date of my formal
177. 8:06recusal my chief of staff sent an email
178. 8:10to the heads of relevant departments
179. 8:12including by name to director Comey of
180. 8:15the FBI to instruct them to inform their
181. 8:19staffs of this recusal and to advise
182. 8:22them not to brief me or involve me in
183. 8:25any way in any such matters and in fact
184. 8:29they have not
185. 8:31importantly I recuse
186. 8:34myself not because of Any asserted
187. 8:38wrongdoing or any belief that I may have
188. 8:41been involved in any wrongdoing in the c
189. 8:43campaign but because a Department of
190. 8:46Justice regulation 28 CFR
191. 8:5045.2 I felt required it that regulation
192. 8:54States in effect that department
193. 8:56employees should not participate in
194. 8:59investigations of a campaign if they
195. 9:02served as a campaign advisor so the
196. 9:06scope of my recusal
197. 9:09however does not and cannot interfere
198. 9:13with my ability to oversee the
199. 9:15Department of
200. 9:17Justice including the FBI which has an 8
201. 9:21billion budget in 35,000
202. 9:25employees I presented to the president
203. 9:28my concerns and those of Deputy attorney
204. 9:31general Rod Rosenstein about the ongoing
205. 9:34leadership issues at the FBI as stated
206. 9:37in my letter recommending the removal of
207. 9:40Mr Comey along with the deputy attorney
208. 9:43general's memorandum on that issue which
209. 9:46have been released publicly by the White
210. 9:49House those represent a clear statement
211. 9:52of My Views I adopted Deputy attorney
212. 9:55general
213. 9:57Rosenstein's points that he made in his
214. 9:59memorandum and made my
215. 10:01recommendation it is absurd frankly to
216. 10:04suggest that a recusal from a single
217. 10:07specific investigation would render the
218. 10:10Attorney General unable to manage the
219. 10:12leadership of the various Department of
220. 10:15Justice law enforcement components that
221. 10:17conduct thousands of
222. 10:20Investigations finally during his
223. 10:22testimony Mr Comey discussed a
224. 10:25conversation that he and I had about the
225. 10:27meeting Mr Comey had with the president
226. 10:31I'm happy to share with the committee my
227. 10:33recollection of that conversation that I
228. 10:36had with Mr Comey following a routine
229. 10:40morning threat briefing Mr Comey spoke
230. 10:43to me and my chief of staff while he did
231. 10:45not proi provide me with any of the
232. 10:48substance of his conversation with the
233. 10:51president apparently the day before Mr
234. 10:54Comey expressed concern about proper
235. 10:57Communications protocol with the White
236. 11:00House and with the president I responded
237. 11:04he didn't recall this but I I I
238. 11:07responded to his comment by agreeing
239. 11:10that the FBI and the Department of
240. 11:12Justice needed to be careful to follow
241. 11:14department policies regarding
242. 11:16appropriate contacts with the White
243. 11:19House Mr Comey had served in the
244. 11:22department for better than two decades
245. 11:24and I was confident that he understood
246. 11:26and would abide by the wellest Lish
247. 11:29rules limiting Communications with the
248. 11:32white house especially about ongoing
249. 11:35investigations that's what's so
250. 11:36important to control my comments
251. 11:39encouraged him to do just that and
252. 11:41indeed as I understand it he in fact did
253. 11:44that our department of justice rules on
254. 11:47proper Communications between the
255. 11:49department and the White House have been
256. 11:50in place for years Mr Comey well knew
257. 11:53them I thought and assumed correctly
258. 11:55that he complied with
259. 11:57them so so I'll finish with
260. 12:01this I recuse myself from any
261. 12:04investigation into the campaign for
262. 12:06president but I did not recuse myself
263. 12:09from defending my honor against scarless
264. 12:13and false
265. 12:14allegations at all times throughout the
266. 12:17course of the campaign the confirmation
267. 12:20process and since becoming attorney
268. 12:22general I have dedicated myself to the
269. 12:26highest standards I've earned a
270. 12:28reputation for that at home and in this
271. 12:32body I believe over Decades of
272. 12:35performance the people of this country
273. 12:38expect an honest and transparent
274. 12:40government and that's what we're giving
275. 12:43them this president wants to focus on
276. 12:45the people of this country to ensure
277. 12:47they are treated fairly and kept safe
278. 12:50the Trump agenda is to improve the lives
279. 12:53of the American people I know some have
280. 12:56different ways of achieving this and
281. 12:58different agendas but but that is his
282. 13:00agenda and it's one I
283. 13:02share importantly as attorney general I
284. 13:05have a responsibility to enforce the
285. 13:07laws of this nation to protect this
286. 13:09country from its enemies and to ensure
287. 13:12the fair administration of justice and I
288. 13:15intend to work every day with our fine
289. 13:18team and the superb Professionals in the
290. 13:21Department of Justice to uh Advance the
291. 13:25important work we have to do these fa
292. 13:29false attacks the innuendos the leaks
293. 13:33you can be sure will not intimidate me
294. 13:37in fact these events have only
295. 13:39strengthened my resolve to fulfill my
296. 13:41duty my duty to reduce crime to support
297. 13:45our federal state and local law
298. 13:47enforcement officers who work on our
299. 13:49streets every day just last week it was
300. 13:53reported that overdose deaths in this
301. 13:55country are rising faster than ever
302. 13:58recorded
303. 13:59last year was 52,000 the New York Times
304. 14:03just estimated next year will be
305. 14:0562,000 overdose deaths the murder rate
306. 14:09is up over 10% the largest increase
307. 14:13since
308. 14:151968 together we are telling the gangs
309. 14:19the cartels the fraudsters and the
310. 14:22terrorist we are coming after you every
311. 14:26one of our citizens no matter who they
312. 14:29are or where they live has the right to
313. 14:32be safe in their homes and communities
314. 14:35and I will not be deterred I will not
315. 14:37allow this great Department to be DET
316. 14:40deterred from its vital Mission thank
317. 14:43you Mr chairman ranking uh member Warner
318. 14:46I have a great honor to appear before
319. 14:49you today and I will do my best to
320. 14:51answer your questions General Sessions
321. 14:53thank
322. 14:54you thank you for that