Transcripts For CSPAN3 Attorney General Jeff Sessions Exchange With Rep. Nadler On Russia Meetings 20171114

Campaign had communications with the russians through mr. Papadopoulos and others. And two, you seem to be unaware of the fact that the time. Lets try and correct the earlier testimony for the record. Yes or no, did you chair the march 31st, 2016 meeting of the National Security Adviser Committee . Edid chair that meeting. Thank you. Yes or, no did mr. Papadopoulos mention his outreach to the russian government during that meeting . He made some comment to that effect, as i remember after having read it in the newspaper. I asked for yes or no. I dont have time. All right. There are reports that you shut george down, unquote, when he proposed that meeting with putin. Is this correct . Yes or no. Yes. I pushed back. Ill say it that way. Yes. You answered yes. So you were obviously concerned by mr. Papadopouloss connections and his possibly arranging a meeting with putin. Now, again, yes or no. Did anyone else at that meeting including candidate trump react in any way to what mr. Papadopoulos had presented . I dont recall. Okay. So your testimony is that neither donald trump nor anyone else at the meeting expressed any interest in meeting the russian president or had any concerns about communications between the campaign and the russians . I dont recall it. Okay. We know from multiple sources including the papadopoulos guilty plea, carter pages interview with the Intelligence Committee and donald trump jr. s emails, among others, that contrary to your earlier testimony, there were continued efforts to communicate with the russians on behalf of the Trump Campaign. We have established that you knew about at least some of these efforts. They cause youd such concern that you, quote, shut george down. I want to know what you did with this information. Yes or, no after the march 31st meeting did you take any steps to prevent Trump Campaign officials, advisers or employees from further outreach to the russians . Mr. Nadler, let me just say it this way. I pushed back at that. You made statements that he in fact at the meeting i pushed back. We know that. No. I have to be able to answer. I cant be able im in a position where i cant explain. Im not going to be answer if i cant answer completely. You said you pushed back. We accept that after the meeting, did you take any further steps to prevent Trump Campaign officials, advisers, or employees from outreach to the russians after you stopped it or pushed back at that meeting. What i want to say to you is you allege there were some further contacts later. I dont believe i had any knowledge of any further contacts. Okay. And i was not in regular contact with mr. Papadopoulos. So your answer is no because you dont think there were any such contacts. Im not aware of it. Okay. I was going to ask you a question did you raise the question with various people, but your answer is no. To the best of my recollection. Okay. So your testimony today is that you communicated with nobody in the campaign about this matter after the march 31st meeting because Nothing Happened . Repeat that . Your testimony therefore is that you communicated with nobody on the campaign about this matter after the march 31st meeting i dont recall it. You dont recall. At some point you became aware that the fbi was investigating potential links between the Trump Campaign and the russian government. After you became aware of the investigation, did you ever discuss mr. Papadopouloss effort with anybody at the fbi . Did i discuss the matter with the fbi . Yes. Ask them questions about what they may have found . Did you discuss the papadopoulos question with the fbi . Have i not had any discussions with mr. Mueller or his team or the fbi concerning any factors with regard to this nobody at the fbi . No. At the department of justice . No. At the white house . No. Any member of congress . Well, i dont know if these conversations may have come up at some time. But not to obtain information. Okay. With regard to your broad question, i dont recall at this moment sitting here any such discussions. Its important for me to say that. The. The time of the gentleman has expired. We have a lot of people waiting to ask questions. That is just part of what attorney general sessions had to say earlier today in front of the house judiciary committee. Watch his entire testimony tonight at p. M. Eastern on cspan, or whenever the house adjourns. Other primetime programing, on cspan2 were looking at the policies of the u. S. House of representatives on Sexual Harassment training. And here on cspan3, the governors of puerto rico and the Virgin Islands testify on hurricane recovery efforts. Cspans washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up wednesday morning, Indiana Republican congresswoman susan brooks discusses efforts to combat Sexual Harassment on capitol hill. Then connecticut democratic congressman john larson reviews the gop tax reform efforts. Also, former Obama White House Homeland Security and counterterrorism adviser lisa monico talks about preventing future terror attacks. Be sure to watch cspans washington journal live at 7 00 eastern wednesday morning. Join the discussion. Now a discussion on efforts to combat the use of social media platforms by global extremist groups. Panelists examine how social media is being used to recruit and radicalize individuals, and what new technologies can be used to help companies identify and remove extremist content. Held by the counterterrorism project, this is an hour and a half. Good afrn