Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Americas Newsroom With Bill Hemmer And Sandra Smith 20171114

Advisor George Papadopoulos. He pled guilty earlier this year and told the f. B. I. He did offer to arrange a meeting between mr. Trump and russian president vladimir putin. Republicans meanwhile will likely double down on the possibility that a special counsel could be appointed to investigate the Clinton Foundation and the controversial uranium one deal. Florida republican congressman ron desantis will be taking part in todays hearing. Well get his take in a moment. Lets begin with Catherine Herridge who is live on capitol hill. Good morning. Thank you, eric, good morning. The Justice Department sent a twopage letter to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee will the attorney general will be testifying an hour from now in the room behind me. It laid out options saying the uranium one deal as well as the Clinton Foundation are under review and the Justice Department is considering whether to open investigations formally, provide Additional Resources to ongoing investigations and they are not ruling out the appointment of a special counsel. On the clinton email investigation, former f. B. I. Director james comey and the actions he took during the 2016 election as well as his decision to leaked privileged material to a media outlet and Loretta Lynch. Theyre leaving this matter for the time being with the Inspector General of the Justice Department. This is not satisfying senior republicans. Here is senator Chuck Grassley on fox friends this morning. It isnt about clinton, it isnt about trump and russia. What all this is about is political interference within the Justice Department . Is there political interference in the f. B. I. . Doesnt matter whether there is political influence under republican or democrat president s. Its the responsibility of the Judiciary Committee to investigate it. Democrats do not see the issue the same way the senior democrat on the House Intelligence Committee sending out this tweet that in effect this crosses the line. A Current Administration pressuring the Justice Department to go after their political appointment that was defeated in the last election. An hour from now were expecting the attorney general to face some very hard questions about his contacts with russia during the campaign and what he said publicly on those issues. A lot of intense speculation and anticipation about this hearing. Another highprofile hearing on capitol hill later today. Over in front of the House Intelligence Committee there will be a closed door session with the cofounder of fusion gps, glenn simson, the firm that commissioned the antidonald trump cost dossier. It is under a lot of pressure right now facing questions over whether he personally crafted portions of that dossier, whether he paid journalists to plant and publish stories favorable to his clients and even more importantly there is not a lot of hope that he is going to answer a lot of these questions. His lawyer has indicated that he may well take the fifth to some specific questions about his clients and the funding. And just for some context when he was on the hill in august in front of the senate Judiciary Committee he was there for 10 hours but our contacts say he did a lot of delaying tactics and stalling and provided records that were useless for committee investigators. Doesnt sound like he will cooperate at all. Less than 60 minutes and well be back with you. Sandra donald trump junior now releasing twitter messages he exchanged with wikileaks during the 2016 campaign. Wikileaks reportedly reached out to trump junior telling him about an antitrump website. Trump junior responded thanking wikileaks for the information. Most of the other messages were ignored. His Attorney Says the messages have already been turned over to congressional investigators, top u. S. Leaders have said wikileaks helped the russia campaign. Joining me now is Florida Republican congressman ron desantis a member of the House Judiciary Committee who will be in the hearing with the attorney general. You have a busy morning. We have a lot to get to this morning. Set up our expectations. Lets start with trump junior. What correspondence have you had with him on this . Weve had very little because there isnt much to anything people have said about any of this. He published the exchanges. There was nothing earth shattering in those. The meeting he had at trump tower that got a lot of press a couple months ago we now know this russian attorney met with fusion gps both before and after the meeting. I think that is really grift for the mill to get Glenn Simpson to tell the Intelligence Committee what were they doing work working . Did they try to set trump junior up . Sandra he said this. Here is the entire chain of messages at wikileaks with my whopping three responses which one of the congressional committees has chosen to selectively leak. How ironic. Do you expect it to come up today with sessions . I dont know if it will. This is something that will come up with Glenn Simpson. They have been involved in working with different russians. Im a big opponent of wikileaks. I think they have connections with russia and dont have americas best interest at heart. I think what the hearing will be more focused on is the Justice Departments actions for doing things about weve been launching investigation into uranium one. We have an informant. How they handled that case doesnt seem like they were probing the massive amounts of money going to the Clinton Foundation during the pending deal. We want to ask sessions about the f. B. I. s use, if at all, of the Democratic Party funded trump dossier done through fusion gps. Did they pay Christopher Steele with taxpayer dollars and then use the dossier to try to get surveillance on Trump Associates . Finally, jim comey and how Loretta Lynch and all that crew handled the Hillary Clinton investigation. The letter that you just mentioned sessions says there is an i. G. Investigation. That has been going on for almost a year. I think the American People want answers because that was one of the most highprofile cases the Justice Department has done in the last quarter century and yet i dont think they did it in a way that inspires much confidence from anybody. Sandra a lot of what you just detailed were going to hear republicans bringing that up in that room this morning. Democrats are probably going to bring up George Papadopoulos. The former trump advisor who pled guilty to lying to the f. B. I. About offering to arrange for this meeting between donald trump and vladimir putin. What do you expect to hear from democrats on this this morning . I think they will probably try to focus on sessions whether he met with the ambassador, all his previous testimony. They may bring up papadopoulos. There needs to be said. There was no underlying misconduct with papadopoulos. He said he had made this inquiry two weeks before he joined the campaign. Turned out two weeks after. Some republicans will act about papadopoulos. If you look at that misstatement, he has pled guilty. Remember, when hillary was under the gun and came up to capitol hill to testify under oath she said under oath she turned over all workrelated emails and that was false. She said her attorneys went through every email, that was false and she said there were no classified markings on any emails, that was false. I dont recall the f. B. I. Trying to initiate any type of action against her for false statements. So i think what we have is the clinton case, the f. B. I. And the Justice Department went out of their way not to make a case. Now with the special counsel, that is scorching the earth trying to do whatever he can to ring up as many people as possible. There is a difference in zealousness of prosecution. I want equal application of the law. I dont think someone should get a good deal and others a raw deal. Sandra Jeff Sessions leaving the door open to a special counsel on the uranium one deal, that will likely be a hot topic this morning. Do you expect fireworks in the room, congressman . I do. Sessions i dont know if he is recused from everything related to clinton. He is recused from the campaign. He may not need to do a special counsel if he is willing to deal with things that happened prior to the campaign. If he has recused to everything involving hillary and the clintons then a special counsel may be warranted because the deputy a. G. Rod rosen stein was involved in 20 146789 sandra the third time the attorney general will be answering questions under oath. We expect a lot from this this morning coming up in less than an hour. Congressman, thank you for your time ahead of that. Sandra thank you. Well have more on the attorney generals testimony at the bottom of the hour. Well be talking to the man running todays hearing, House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte. His calls for a special counsel to look into that uranium one deal. Thats all coming up at 9 30 eastern. Looking forward to that preview. We have a fox news alert. As you know a fifth accuser coming forward and accusing Alabama Senate candidate roy moore of Sexual Misconduct saying moore attacked her when she was 16 years old. These allegations have prompted a core use of republicans calling for mr. Moore to step aside. Thats getting louder. We have to find out whether the people of alabama choose him or not. Then you explore the various options. He should not be a United States senator. Before anybody would expel him they would give him due process and but i will say this and ive said it before. All this is very disturbing. It would be best for him, the state, his family, the gop and country if he stepped aside. I just think there is no good outcome for mr. Moore. Jonathan saray is in alabama. What is the judges reaction to the latest allegations . Hi, roy moore remains dee file ant despite the fifth accuser coming forward. That accuser Beverly Young nelson held a News Conference yesterday during which she tearfully described what she said was an encounter with roy moore four decades ago. Listen. I was terrified. He was also trying to pull my shirt off. I thought that he was going to rape me. Nelson says she was 16 when moore, then a District Attorney in his 30s, offered her a ride home from the restaurant where she worked and then allegedly sexually assaulted her in his car. Moore insists these allegations are untrue. I can tell you without hesitation this is absolutely false. I never did what she said i did. I dont even know the woman. I dont know anything about her. I dont even know where the restaurant is or was. Moore has denied earlier allegations in the Washington Post that he inappropriately touched a 14yearold girl back in 1979 when he was 32. But the Moore Campaign has yet to issue an official response to a recent new yorker article allege knowledge moore was banned from a Shopping Mall in the 1980s for allegedly approaching teenage girls. Thank you so much. December 12th that election. Sandra a big day of breaking news. Attorney general Jeff Sessions in the hot seat on capitol hill. The chairman of the committee is up in a couple of minutes. Well look forward to that. President trump is winging his way back home after his asia trip and face a packed agenda in washington topped off with tax reform and a president ial visit to capitol hill. Coming up Jason Chaffetz will weigh in next on what we can expect. Sandra President Trump claiming big success on that historic trip. How did it go . Ambassador john bolton will break it down for us coming up. President trump the United States has been taken advantage of. Theyre very giving and they dont get in return. So we want fair trade. We want reciprocal trade. 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Build attendance for an event. Help people find their way. Fastsigns designed new directional signage. And got them back on track. Get started at fastsigns. Com. Sandra President Trump now heading home from asia and he is jumping right back into tax reform. Days before the house votes on its tax bill. The president tweeting excited to be heading home to see the house pass a great tax bill with the middle class getting big tax cuts. Make America Great again. Joining me now is Jason Chaffetz. Thank you for being here this morning. You have the house and senate both hammering out the details of their plans. You wonder what this is ultimately going to end up looking like . What happens next . Look, the house will get a visit from President Trump i believe on thursday morning. They will have that vote in the afternoon. By all accounts its going the pass by probably less than five votes. You still have some members from big states that are nos a at this point. But remember when that bill goes to the floor under reconciliation you cant amend it. Over in the Senate Senate finance is dealing with the bill 355 different amendments there but senator hatch is the chairman. I expect will pass it through. He has been making good arguments that democrats have supported lots of this in the past. Now that its offered by republicans, suddenly they dont want a Corporate Tax decrease and things like that. Sandra most of us look at the two plans that the house and senate have put forward and they are far apart on several big things here. The president has weighed in during his trip. He said he wants congress to cut the top tax rate and the unfair as he put it and highly popular individual mandate in obamacare. The president is really asking for two simple things. He wants to reduce the Corporate Tax rate. He wanted 15 originally now bucking for 20 . He wants to make sure the middle class does not get a tax increase. They get a substantial tax decrease. Its a winning proposition. What really has to happen is the house and senate pass a bill and they go to reconciliation and the reality is about six people will sit in that room, speaker paul ryan, Mitch Mcconnell, the chairman of the two committees, kevin brady and orrin hatch and a couple of staffers and along with the white house and out will pop something that they will vote on and hopefully pass. Sandra as the president is en route to hawaii right now finishing up this historic trip we know he will be an integral part of this process and making this happen and pushing it past the finish line. How big is his part in these final days . Look, he is going to push it one direction or another. He will be in the room to make the final decision and be the chief salesman as it goes back to the senate and house to push it over the finish line. Republicans are desperate for a victory. They have to have it. Sandra will they get it done . They have to fund things, too. Sandra will they get it done and will the American People be happy with what they put out . If they dont a lot of people arent coming back. I know they feel the pressure. Its republicans cutting taxes. How hard can this possibly be . This should not be a heavy lift. Sandra its a busy morning. We have Jeff Sessions coming up in the hot seat. Good to see you. Thanks for coming on. Meantime special coverage you dont want to mishap evening tonight. Bret baier and Martha Maccallum hosting a town hall event with House Speaker paul ryan. It will focus on tax reform and how it could affect each and every one of us tonight starting at 6 00 p. M. Eastern right here on the fox news channel. Eric love that. Republicans cutting taxes, how hard could it be . Senator rand paul is speaking out for the very First Time Since he was attacked by his neighbor outside his home in kentucky. What he is saying about the bizarre assault as he returns to work on capitol hill. Sandra plus President Trump is wrapping up his historic tour of asia after meeting with the leaders of five countries. Weve had a tremendously successful trip. Tremendous amount of work was done. Weve accomplished a lot. Ive enjoyed it very much. Well go to the plane and well take off and we will be landing in washington in about 22 hours. If you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis,. Isnt it time to let the real you shine through . Maybe its time for Otezla Apremilast . Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months,. With reduced redness,. Thickness, and scaliness of plaques. And the otezla prescribing information has. No requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Tell your doctor if these occur. Otezla is associated with an increased. Risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have. 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All this in the wake of a guilty plea by former Campaign Advisor George Papadopoulos. Well have the attorney generals testimony live as soon as it happens at the top of the hour. President trump tremendous amount of work was done on trade. Not only on the deal that we have at least 300 billion worth of deals but i think it will be way triple that number in a short period of time. Eric President Trump wrapping up his historic fivenation tour of asia. He said a lot was accomplished on this trip. Security, free and fair trade. How did he do . John bolton is a Fox News Contributor chairman of the gate stone institute. Did you think the president was able to achieve his goals . Ist was a successful trip publicly. We dont know about the meetings in china with meetings on north korea. I thought significant steps were made in south korea and japan. And talking about chinese incursions in the south and east china sea. Well hear more tomorrow from the president apparently and it will be important to follow that because on north korea in particular were coming very close to some key decisions the United States is going to have to make. Eric what are those decisions . Well specifically dealing with the Nuclear Weapons and Ballistic Missile programs. Just a few weeks ago cia director mike pompeo said he thought the north was within months of being able to land Nuclear Weapons in the United States. It is very close. As one white house official said some time ago, there isnt any more road to kick this can down. Thats why the talks between president xi and trump were so important. China can either work with us on this and hopefully we can accomplish denuclearization or the United States will have to face the decision to act alone. Eric the president said they had very good conversations. He tweeted out that president xi agreed to up the sanctions. They havent cut off the coal or the oil. They still have banks operating even though they told the u. N. They would cut them off. You have north Korean Companies still in china and you have the north korean workers kicking all that money back to pyongyang. And you have russia evading the sanctions and iran and others. The chinese have played a double game for 25 years, lets be honest. They say they dont want north korea to have Nuclear Weapons but have failed to exercise the economic leverage they have over north korea. Thats fine while youre engaged in diplomacy. I think the president should have had a very direct conversation about how imminent this danger is and why if unless were prepared to live with north korea with Nuclear Weapons, which i certainly oppose, we are going to have to do to make some pretty hard decisions here. Eric how do you think it will play out . The Washington Times is praising you because you took a tough line on north korea in the Previous Administration. Mr. Bolton condemned north korea calling the country a hellish nightmare and discuss editor tour by the regime. The lesson mr. Trump should draw from the north korea speech is the urgency of his policies are implemented by the Foreign Policy bureaucracy. This is difficult because there is a strong resistance to conservative policies, not just those of the Trump Administration by the swamp. So theyre saying the president has opposition here . I think within the National Security establishment they just want to negotiate with north korea forever. It doesnt work anymore unless, as susan rice, Barack Obamas National Security advisor wrote if youre content to live with north korea with Nuclear Weapons. The dangerous weapons in the hands of a bizarre erratic regime threatening us as far as the eye can see and selling its ballistic and Nuclear Missile technology to other would be nuclear states. I find it unacceptable. Eric thats the threat and it hasnt diminished. Always good to see you. Thank you for being with us this morning. Sandra President Trump getting involved in a potential international incident. How he reached out to highest levels of the Chinese Government after three College Basketball players were arrested for shoplifting. Eric were about half an hour or 30 minutes away from testimony thats much anticipated from attorney general Jeff Sessions on capitol hill. The chairman of the committee there is who is holding that hearing is up next but first lets listen to senator Chuck Grassley. It isnt about clinton, it isnt about trump, and russia. What all this is about is political interference within the Justice Department. Is there political interference in the f. B. I. . D by talking tough on the National Debt . Will they stay true to their words . Or did they promise you one thing. Only to do another . Right now, congress is talking about tax cuts that will add trillions to our National Debt and hurt our economy. Its time to tell congress. Dont borrow more money from china. And leave more debt to our kids. Keep your word. Tax cuts shouldnt add to the National Debt. Sandra bottom of the hour and top of the news Jeff Sessions set to testify on capitol hill moments from now. All sides have some questions for the attorney general. Republicans want to know about Hillary Clinton, james comey, the former f. B. I. Director and that russian trump dossier and democrats want to know about alleged russian connections and what sessions may or may not know about them. This is what the attorney general had to say back in october. Did you ever overhear a conversation between you and anybody on the campaign who talked about meeting with the russians . I have not seen anything that would indicate a collusion with russians to impact the campaign. You are saying that you dont believe that surrogates from the Trump Campaign had communications with the russians. Is that what you are saying . I am not aware of anyone else that did and i did not. I dont believe it happened. Sandra Bob Goodlatte will chair todays hearing in the Judiciary Committee and joins me now. Good of you to come on with us. This happening in a few minutes. It is going to be a busy morning. This is the third time the attorney general has sat down to answer questions under oath. What do you want to hear from him this time . Well, there are many issues. He is the attorney general of the United States. Im sure that Many Democrats in the Committee Want to talk about russia, russia, russia. As you know, a special counsel has been appointed to look into that and on our committee i have chosen to allow the special counsel to conduct his work without political influence and so well certainly hear about that. There are many other issues we want to hear from him. This is a standard annual testifying by the attorney general in front of the Judiciary Committee which has oversight of the department of justice. Well talk about a number of things. Our National Security with the reauthorization of section 702 coming up very soon. Well talk about issues like immigration enforcement. Well talk about issues like the appointment of a Second Special counsel to look into all of the things that occurred last year under most peculiar circumstances with regard to the former f. B. I. Director mr. Comey and how he conducted that investigation. Sandra mr. Chairman, i want to get to that because as we are awaiting this hearing to begin, that is huge news to hear now that Jeff Sessions is leaving the door open possibly to a Second Special counsel. You, mr. Chairman, have been calling on him to do this multiple times. I think its very appropriate to do so and would reassure a lot of people that serious breaches of the normal way that the f. B. I. And the department of justice conduct investigations that occurred last year are being investigated and being fixed so the American People have restored confidence that our Justice Department will do justice. Thats vitally important and if were going to figure that out, there either has to be some very serious work done by the department or appoint a special counsel, someone with integrity who will look into these matters and i think reassuring to many people. Sandra do you have any idea who that might be . I dont have any suggestions for that at this point in time. Sandra what would you want that special counsel to probe . I want them to look into the issue of why it is that the f. B. I. Director apparently decided not to prosecute Hillary Clinton when he had not yet interviewed 17 witnesses, including secretary clinton herself and why he should go public when he is acting as an investigator, not a prosecutor. Normally that decision is made by the Justice Department. Third, i want to know why it is he publicly disclosed a reopening of the investigation just a week before the election and then again just a few days before the election. All of which many people, including democrats, have complained was inappropriate to do at that time. These are all serious breaches that should concern the American People and need to be investigated. Sandra jim jordan was on this program yesterday. He wrote an oped yesterday calling on the attorney general to do your job. There is frustration that we have seen from some of your colleagues. But as we await this questioning of the attorney general, you led off by saying the democrats will be pushing russia, russia, russia. George papadopoulos is likely going to come up, the former trump advisor who pled guilty to lying to the f. B. I. Talking about that possibly arranging that meeting between donald trump and the russian president vladimir putin. In what capacity do you think that will get covered this morning . That again will be up to the attorney general. Im sure there will be questions asked and i cant speak for the attorney general. Im sure he is very capable of speaking for himself in terms of what he knows and as you know with regard to the investigation of all this, he has recused himself and then following that the Deputy Attorney general appointed a special counsel which we have felt was not necessary but once the decision was made to do that, we felt that it was appropriate that the special counsel, mr. Mueller, have an opportunity to do this investigation in a manner that was not interfered with by political influence. Sandra we already touched on uranium one. That is going to be a big point of questioning from republicans as well as the trump dossier. Another name that might come up, Christopher Steele. Byron york writes this morning. The first question he would be asking in that room is did the f. B. I. d. O. J. Pay Christopher Steele in connection with the trump dossier. Will that come up . It certainly very well could come up and again all of these are matters that, if the special counsel, mr. Mueller, is not specifically looking into that, should be examined as part of an examination of how the f. B. I. Conducted itself last year in the midst of a very important president ial campaign. Sandra important to point out this is a routine hearing for the attorney general but your expectations it might take a turn this morning when that begins less than 20 minutes from now, right . A general oversight hearing. That generally means that lots of questions on lots of subjects will come up. And in addition to the ones ive just mentioned here today. It will be a very interesting hearing. People should tune in. Sandra thank you for coming on a short time before that begins. Thank you, sir. Eric thats starting 20 minutes from now. A highstakes battle on tax reform. Why Democratic Leaders say a tax reform failure could put them back in power on capitol hill. Sandra plus republicans are in crisis control. More allegations of Sexual Misconduct against Senate Candidate roy moore and more republicans saying its time he step aside. I think he should step aside. Are you encouraging a write in campaign of mr. Strange . Thats an option were looking at. Someone who could mount a writein campaign successfully. I had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. Metastatic and it spread to my bones. Time is very important when time is running out. I was looking for answers. A friend of mine suggested Cancer Treatment centers of america. I serve in the General Assembly for the state of arkansas. We Work Together across the aisle to get things done. And thats the way it is at ctca. What fred needed was a management team. Not just to have a longterm strategy for quantity of life, but also an active strategy for quality of life. The plan was to put together an aggressive regimen. 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The most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. Tomorrow, tomorrow. When can we do this again, grandpa . Well, how about tomorrow . Ask your doctor about entresto and help make tomorrow possible. The closer this bill gets to becoming law the greater the threat it poses to republican majorities in the house and senate. The Republican Leadership is asking their members to walk the plank, to walk the plank on a bill that never become law. Eric the Democratic Leaders issuing dire warnings for republicans saying theyre doomed in 2018 if they pass the tax reform. The Senate Finance committee marking up their bill right now in the house, its on track to push through its plan on thursday. Whats going to happen . Lets bring in adrienne el rod and rich lowry. Rich, lets start with you. The pressure is on. Theyve got to deliver, they have to get something. Do you think they will . It will be a complete debacle if they dont pass the tax bill. The supporters will quit on them. Voters will think they deserve to lose Congress Next year. The stakes are enormous. I think it will pass the house. The question is the senate. Where you can only lose two votes and there are lots of different ways to count the three no, sir. A near run thing in the senate but i think the odds are better than 50 50 that it actually goes through. Eric can you imagine the way theyre cutting deals in the back doors. You cant imagine them. Look, here is the issue. Republicans desperately need a win now, right . They have had full control of the house, senate and white house for the last 11 months and have nothing to point to legislatively. They desperately need a win. If youre Mitch Mcconnell and paul ryan youre looking at this and saying this will be a hard bill to defend if it passes going into the midterms. It will raise middle class taxes, and it will also give major tax breaks to the corporations. They are in a quagmire. Eric some middle class families will get 1300 a year back from this. Its kind of confusing. It is. The corporate side is a good reform. All things being equal it should increase economic growth. Increase wages. The individual side is very complicated. By and large its a cut for everyone but you look through the various income brackets and depending on which deductions and exemptions you are losing, some middle class families can see tax increases. Eric getting rid of the interest on extreme medical situations and some college interest. That sort of things can really affect people. Exactly. This will be such a difficult thing for republicans to defendinging into the midterms. They need a win. Both leaders of both the house and senate know this and well see what happens. Eric making it more complicated you have the situation with judge roy moore obviously. If doug jones win the democrat, you pick up a democratic seat in alabama. What will happen to moore, rich . If he dropped out, he could be excluded. Or he could be expelled if elected and seated. Looks like he isnt going anywhere under his own power. The only thing that could change his mind is if President Trump comes out very strongly and says look, the allegations are credible. These are not the sort of things we want anyone to do and i cant abide it and sorry, mr. Moore, please step aside. That might change his mind. Otherwise he is going to stay through. He might lose which would be catastrophic potentially for the prospect of tax reform if they havent passed it yet and if he wins it could be an ugly fight. Republicans are trying to expel him right away. Again, this is just such a difficult situation. I guess if youre Mitch Mcconnell. On the one hand you dont want this kind of person if he wins. None of us want this kind of person if he wins in the senate. If the voters of alabama vote for roy moore and then he is unseated that will causal kinds much issues with the establishment wing of the gop and bannon wing. Eric he still does have some supporters. The issue of joe biden. You hear what he said last night Stephen Colbert talking about the threat to our republic and the question of whether or not he is running for president. Im speaking to a large crowd of republican audience. I said how many of you are now worried about the stability of the republic . How many of you are worried about this new phony nationalism, us against them . Eric he is running. Who doesnt love uncle joe, right . He is the best. If he wants to run it would be amazing. I would like to see a lot of people running for the democratic nomination in 2020. If he wants to throw his hat in the ring more power to him. I dont love uncle joe. Once youre bitten by the president ial bug it never goes away. If he doesnt run he will get to the edge of doing it. Eric my money is on him running. Sandra were waiting a verdict in the federal corruption trial of senator bob menendez. Were live from outside the u. S. District courthouse in new jersey. Eric attorney general sessions has been set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee moments from now. Were minutes away as he gets ready to sit down at the witness table. Were bringing this all to you live coming up. I want to know why it is he publicly disclosed a reopening of the investigation just a week before the election and then again just a few days before the election. I dont want to sound paranoid, but dya think our recent online sales success seems a little. Strange . Na. Ever since we switched to fedex ground business has been great. Theyre affordable and fast. Maybe too affordable and fast. What if. People arent buying these books online, but they are buying them to protect their secrets . . hi bill. If that is your real name. Its william actually. Hmph affordable, fast fedex ground. Endless shrimp is here like new Nashville Hot shrimp crispy, spicy, and drizzled with sweet amber honey. Plus the delicious classics you love, like garlic shrimp scampi. Try all the shrimp you want, however you want em. But hurry, it ends soon. We are the driven. The dedicated. The overachievers. We know our best investment is in ourselves. We dont take no for an answer. We fight for what we want. Even for the things that were once a given. Going to college. Buying a home. And not being in debt for it for the rest of our lives. But were only as strong as our community. Who inspires and pushes us to go further than we could ever go alone. Sofi. Get there sooner. Eric a big morning on capitol hill. What will he say . What will he be asked . Attorney general Jeff Sessions set to testify and take the witness table of the House Judiciary Committee. Both sides of the aisle demanding a lot of answers on a lot of things this morning. You have russia, former f. B. I. Director james comey and what he did or did not do and now there is the possibility of another special counsel being appointed to investigate the controversial uranium one deal during the Obama Administration questioning former secretary of state Hillary Clintons actions at potential involvement, all denied, in that issue. All this in the wake of that guilty plea by former trump Campaign Advisor George Papadopoulos. You have new revelations about donald trump junior communicating with wikileaks. They call this a routine hearing . Anything but. Well bring it to you live as soon as the attorney general takes a seat. Sandra meanwhile the state of senator bob menendez rests in the hands of a jury this morning as deliberations resume after the panel could not reach a verdict yesterday. David lee miller is live from the u. S. District court in newark, new jersey. About an hour ago senator menendez arrived at court for day 36 of his bribery trial and brushed aside reporters questions as he entered the building. Yesterday the jury sent the judge a note. It said we cannot reach a unanimous decision on any of the charges. The judge sent the jury home early, advised them to get a good meal and good nights sleep to continue the deliberations this morning. What is significant here is that an alternate juror was placed on the panel yesterday morning to replace a juror excused in order to go on a longplanned vacation. The new jury only deliberated about three hours before telling the judge they could not reach a unanimous decision. That excused juror before jetting off on vacation spoke to reporters. She said she felt menendez was innocent of all charges and that she was being coerced by fellow jurors. Yesterday afternoon the senator reacted to the jury dilemma. As i said 2 1 2 years ago when i first faced these charges, i was innocent. And clearly there are jurors who believe in my innocence. It is very possible there could be a mistrial declared at the end of the day. At this hour court has not yet begun. The jury is here but the judge has not convened court. We at this hour continue to wait. Sandra, back to you. Sandra David Lee Miller thank you. Eric the moment of the day coming up next. Jeff sessions has arrived on capitol hill. Well have that for you next, the testimony, the questions, and the answers live here on the fox news channel. My friend susie cracks me up. But one laugh, and hello sensitive bladder. Ring a bell . Then you have to try always discreet. I didnt think protection this thin could work. But the super absorbent core turns liquid to gel. For incredible protection. Thats surprisingly thin. So its out of sight. And out of mind. Always discreet. For bladder leaks. Also in liners. Sandra big morning. Attorney general Jeff Sessions back on the hot seat on capitol hill as lawmakers get ready to grill him for a third time about russian contacts with the Trump Campaign. Welcome to a new hour of americas newsroom. Im sandra smith. Eric good to be with you, im eric sean in for bill hemmer this morning. The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee is set to start any minute now. Mr. Sessions will be facing new questions amid growing evidence of Campaign Contacts with russia. Republicans on the committee giving us a preview of possible questions when they appeared earlier on americas newsroom. What they will probably try to focus on sessions, whether he met with the ambassador, all his previous testimony. They may bring up papadopoulos. He is the attorney general of the United States. Im sure that Many Democrats in the Committee Want to talk about russia, russia, russia. As you know, a special counsel has been appointed to look into that and on our committee i have chosen to allow the special counsel to conduct his work without political influence. Sandra steven hayes is editor of the Weekly Standard and comes on with us to know when it begins well go to it for everybody. Steven, if you could set this up for us. You heard from the chairman of the committee as well as one of the members saying we could see fireworks in that room this morning. I thought erics introduction to it at the end of the last hour was exactly right. This could contain a little bit of everything. You have democrats pushing hard on the russia questions. There are new revelations about what Jeff Sessions knew about contacts with the russians. He had previously testified repeatedly that he didnt have any contacts with the russians. He had to revise his testimony on that and also testified he hadnt heard about contacts with the russians and notified of contacts with the russians and we now know via George Papadopoulos and carter page that turns out not to have been the case. Im sure he will be pressed hard on that. Then you have the revelations in the letter yesterday sent by the department of justice that the d. O. J. Will be evaluating or looking into the possibility of a special counsel to look at some of these other issues that republicans have been raising over the past several months, in particular uranium one and some of the questions about Hillary Clinton and her campaign. So there is a lot to talk about. Sandra and all of this, steven, as the president is finishing up this historic trip in asia on his way to hawaii and coming home and is going to have to address tax reform. This is a huge week for that. And meanwhile you have the attorney general leaving the door open to possibly appointing this Second Special counsel. Tough to keep track of it all. There is a lot going on. This is what we do for a living, right . Wake up in the morning and look for a new tweet to see if this is something we have to talk about today. It is chaos in washington you have all of these allegations and counter allegations. Youve got genuine news. Things coming out of the president s trip to asia. Meaningful discussions taking place over there. Youve got serious, i think, questions about what Jeff Sessions had previously testified about. I do think that some of the questions with respect to uranium one are real questions and legitimate questions, things we dont have answers to and it is good that congressional oversight committees want to get answers. Sandra as you are speaking the attorney general has just entered the room on capitol hill about to step forward and take questions from those on the House Judiciary Committee. We spoke with Bob Goodlatte who like you, said there is a lot to talk about here. This is a routine hearing. The third time that Jeff Sessions will be answering questions under oath but this is likely to be all but routine, steven, as there is so much going on. Of course, democrats are going to be as goodlatte said russia, russia, russia. Republicans will want to talk about uranium one, the trump dossier, the possible special counsel that Jeff Sessions may now appoint to cover Hillary Clinton matters. So there is going to be fire from both sides here. There is. What i was just saying was i think there are legitimate outstanding questions about uranium one. It is also important to be very careful when you have a president who has been agitating consistently for a department of justice investigation into his political opponent not to overstep. That gets into dangerous territory pretty quickly. Sandra it sounds like chairman goodlatte is taking over now and he will make introductory remarks. Well hear from several introductory remarks and Jeff Sessions followed by questions and answers. Lets listen in now. Good morning. Today we welcome attorney general Jeff Sessions. The Judiciary Committee annual department of justice oversight hearing. Mr. Attorney general, you have a long and distinguished career in public service. Youve continued that service by leading the department of justice, an agency that by its very nature is prone to controversy because of the publics varied opinions upon what it means to seek and obtain justice. However, you clearly understand that the department you lead must have the confidence of the American People even when your decisions are not always wellreceived. Your first year leading of the department of justice has not been without difficulty, which is expected at the outset of a new administration. While much has been done to correct the improper Political Engagement by the department of justice under the Obama Administration, more work must be done to ensure the department is operating to impartially administer justice. Our last doj oversight hearing was beyond disappointing. Attorney general Loretta Lynch gave the least full some and least transparent testimony that i can recall in my time in congress. It was plainly a disservice to the American People. She failed to respond substantively to nearly every question posed by members of this committee. Before ms. Lynch holder became the first attorney general for the reckless operation fast and furious. I expect, mr. Attorney general, you will be more willing to candidly answer questions from members on both sides of the aisle. You will hear question after question today concerning your knowledge of or involvement with russia. And its i alleged efforts to interfere in the 2016 president ial election. Whether it concerns your work on behalf of now President Trump during the campaign or your service in the senate, i suspect this theme will be a constant refrain from my friends on the other side of the aisle. While i understand your decision to recuse yourself was an effort by you to do the right thing, i believe you as a person of integrity, would have been impartial and fair in following the facts wherever they led. I have chosen as chairman of this committee to let special Counsel Robert Mueller do his job free from undue political influence. At the same time, however, this committee will do its duty and conduct oversight of the department of justice. To that end we sent two letters to you, one in july and another in september, calling on you to name a Second Special counsel to restore the publics confidence in our Justice System. Numerous matters connected to the 2016 election remain unresolved. To date the department has not appointed a Second Special counsel. Consequently this committee had no choice but to open our own joint investigation with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to review doj and f. B. I. s handling of the investigation into former secretary Hillary Clinton and her mishandling of classified information. As we said earlier this year, it is incumbent on this committee in oversight capacity to ensure that the agencies we oversee are above reproach and that the Justice Department in particular remains immune to accusations of politicalism. Whoever is attorney general, the Justice Department must even handedly administer justice. You have recused yourself from matters stemming from the 2016 election but there are significant concerns that the partisanship of the f. B. I. And the department has weakened the ability of each to act objectively. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this and what steps you are taking to remove politics from Law Enforcement. However, these investigations are put a few of the many important issues we need to discuss today. For instance, we just overwhelmingly reported the usa liberty act out of Committee Last week. This Bipartisan Legislation would reauthorize section 702 of the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act. Administration has chosen to oppose any reform of the law. I understand the desire for a clean reauthorization of this vital program. However, i believe this stance is a miscalculation that risks further eroding trust in our intelligence apparatus. We hope we can work with you now that the usa liberty act, which reauthorizes a law that is vital to our nations battle against terrorism while protecting American Civil Liberties has been reported out of the committee. This is especially important given the ongoing threat of terrorist attacks in the United States. As we all know, not two weeks ago eight people were killed and almost a dozen injured when an isisinspired jihadist drove a rented pickup truck into a crowded bicycle path near the World Trade Center in new york. The terrorist threat is real and ongoing. We cannot afford to play politics with National Security. I also look forward to continuing to work with you on efforts to reform our nations criminal Justice System. There is bipartisan support to do this in congress and with your help, we can make changes that crack down on violent offenders while also doing more to rehabilitate federal prisons and curb abuses in the system as well as excessive punishment. To your credit since you assumed leadership of the department of justice there has been a significant increase in the prosecution of firearms offenses in the United States. For years i have criticized lacks enforcement of the gun laws already on the books. Enforcing these laws is the most effective way to combat Violent Crime in our cities and neighborhoods. Under your leadership, the number of defendants charged with Unlawful Possession of a firearm has increased by nearly 25 . The number of defendants charged with armed Drug Trafficking has increased 10 . I commend you for your focus on these prosecutions because they will help make our streets safer. There are many other matters on which we share common ground, especially when it comes to rectifying the failures of the Obama Administration. For example, earlier this year the house passed legislation to ban settlement payments to nonvictim third parties following your policy directive to shut down the use of such mandatory donations. These reform initiatives followed a concerted effort by the Obama Administration to use settlements to benefit its political allies. We commend your efforts to combat illegal immigration, protect our citizens from criminal aliens and fight back against socalled sanctuary cities. More than two years have passed since kate steinle was murdered by an illegal immigrant who had been deported five times. We have addressed this issue headon by moving legislation to combat sanctuary cities and find and remove criminal gang members. Mr. Attorney general, our country is at a crossroads. Our constituents are gravely concerned our Justice System does not work for them. Under your leadership the Justice Department has taken strides to mitigate the harms done in the prior administration. I implore you to work with us to continue that trend and i thank you sincerely for your appearance here today. I now recognize the Ranking Member of the committee, the gentleman from michigan, mr. Conyers, for his opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Top of the morning. In the ordinary course of business, any one of a dozen topics related to the department of justice would be worthy of its own hearing. And to be clear, i would rather spend our time today discussing the upkeep of the criminal Justice System, enforcement of civil rights, and the work we must all do to ensure access to the ballot box. Instead, we must spend our time debating the troubles of a wayward administration. How the attorney general conducts himself before congress. How President Trump undermines the integrity of the Justice System and how the department continues to ignore the oversight requests of this committee. Although this is the attorney generals first appearance before the house, he has already made three visits to our colleagues in the senate. At his confirmation hearing he testified that he did not have communications with the russians. Last month he testified that a continuing exchange of information between trump surrogates and intermediaries for the russian government did not happen, at least to my knowledge and not with me. We now know, of course, that neither of these statements is true. Shortly after the attorney general made the first comment, the Washington Post reported that he met with the Russian Ambassador at least twice during the campaign. In the past month weve also learned that the attorney general must have been very much aware of a continuing exchange of information between the Trump Campaign and the russian government. In charging documents unsealed last month, George Papadopoulos, a Foreign Policy advisor to the Trump Campaign, admits to Extensive Communications with russian contacts. At a march 31st, 2016 meeting of the campaigns National Security Advisory Committee, attended by candidate trump and chaired by senator sessions, mr. Papadopoulos stated in sum and substance that he had connections that could help arrange a meeting between then candidate trump and president putin. It does not matter and has been reported that the attorney general remembers this meeting after the fact. Remembers it so vividly, in fact, that two unarmed sources say the senator shut george down. Under oath, knowing in advance that he would be asked about this subject, the attorney general gave answers that were at best incomplete. I hope the attorney general can provide some clarification on this problem in his remarks today. I also hope that he can assure us that the department is weathering near daily attacks on its independence by President Trump and that no office of the department is being used to pressure the president s political enemies. In recent months, President Trump has attacked the beleaguered attorney general and criticized his very weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes in quotation. The president has talked openly about firing the leadership of the department, including the attorney general, the Deputy Attorney general, the former acting director of the f. B. I. , and special Counsel Robert Mueller. He did fire former f. B. I. Director comey. In his own words, quote, because of that russia thing with trump and russia, end quotation. As well as acting attorney general sally yates and all 46 sitting United States attorneys. Last year he denigrated a federal judge because of his quote mexican heritage, unquote and judge curio was born in indiana, by the way. Last month in a radio interview, President Trump said he was very unhappy with the Justice Department. Hours later he proclaimed the military Justice System a complete and total disgrace. The one that sticks with me is the president s july interview with the new york times. In that interview, he begins by once again attacking the attorney generals credibility. Sessions never should have recused himself, the president complains. Then the conversation takes a sinister turn. When nixon came along, out of courtesy, the f. B. I. Started reporting to the department of justice, but the f. B. I. Person really reports directly to the president of the United States. He goes on, i could have ended the Flynn Investigation just by saying they say it cant be obstruction because you can say its ended, its over, period. As is often the case, the president requires some correction. The director of the f. B. I. Reports directly to the attorney general and has since the founding of the bureau, it can be obstruction of justice if the president orders an investigation closed with a corrupt motive. But what strikes me about these comments is the president s view that the criminal Justice System serves him and not the public. President trump seems to believe that on a whim he can bring pressure to bear on his enemies, dismiss charges against his allies, and insulate himself and his family from any consequence. I cannot every emphasize the danger of this perspective that it poses to our republic and i have served on this committee long enough to remember another president who shared this view. I was myself on Richard Nixons enemys list. And ol though we worked to hold that administration accountable, our work is not complete. We must all remember our common responsibility to prevent that kind of abuse from happening again. I will look to the attorney generals partnership in this effort, but i have begun to worry about his resolve. Last night in a letter sent by the department to chairman goodlatte, without so much as a copy to the Ranking Member, by the way, the assistant attorney general seems to leave the door open to appointing a new special counsel to cater to the president s political needs. The fact that this letter was sent to the majority without the customary and appropriate notice to me indicates that the charge given to the Department Officials to evaluate these issues has political motivations. Now in his own words, the attorney general is recused from any questions involving investigations that involve secretary clinton. Further, we cannot refer an investigation to a second counsel if we lack the evidence to predicate a criminal investigation in the first place. Virtually every clintonrelated matter that President Trump complains about has been well litigated, carefully examined, and completely debunked. Still, to quote former attorney general michael mukasey, putting political opponents in jail for offenses committed in a political setting is something that we dont do here. The threat alone resembles, in his words, a banana republic. Finally, there is the matter of routine oversight between hearings. In the recent history of this committee, new attorneys general also come to see us within two or three months of taking office. No attorney general in recent memory has taken more than six months before making an appearance here. Attorney general sessions has broken that norm. He has had more than 10 months to settle in, making our communications with the department between hearings that much more important. To date my colleagues and i have sent more than 40 letters to the Trump Administration asking for information necessary to carry out our oversight responsibilities. We have sent more than a dozen of these letters directly to the attorney general. To date, we have not received a single substantive response. We can disagree on matters of policy, mr. Attorney general, but you cannot keep us in the dark forever. When we make a reasonable oversight request, we expect you to reply in a prompt and responsive manner. And i hope you can explain why your department has chosen to ignore these letters. More importantly, i hope that you will be more forthcoming with your answers both in your testimony today and in the weeks to come. And i look forward to your testimony and mr. Chairman, i thank you and give you back the balance of my time. All the members Opening Statements will be made part of the record. We welcome our distinguished witness. If you would please rise, ill begin by swearing you in. Raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. The witness answered in the affirmative. Mr. Jeff sessions was sworn in as the 84th attorney general of the United States in january of 1917. From 1996 to his confirmation to lead the department of justice, mr. Sessions served as the United States senator for alabama. Previously attorney general sessions served as an assistance United States attorney and United States attorney for the Southern District of alabama. Alabama attorney general, and captain in the United States army reserve. Attorney general sessions is a graduate of Huntington College and the university of alabama law school. Welcome attorney general sessions. Your entire written statement will be entered into the record and we ask that you summarize your testimony in five minutes. Noted by the Ranking Member took a few more minutes than that. If you find it necessary, please feel free to do that as well. Welcome. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. An honor to be before this distinguished committee having served 20 years on your counterpart in the senate Judiciary Committee. Mr. Chairman, i must note that i note with regret your announcement of retirement and i know that our relationship has been good in the past and i hope it will continue to be good as you serve here. Youve done a fabulous job in leading this committee. On my first day as attorney general, i spoke about quote, the Critical Role we at the department play in maintaining and strengthening the rule of law which forms the foundation of our liberty, our safety, and our prosperity. In this rule of law we are blessed beyond all nations. I truly believe that. And at this department we must do all we can to ensure it is preserved and advanced such ideals transcend politics. From that day to today we at the department of justice have worked to be faithful to that mission. Let me share some things weve done initially. The president sent us an order to reduce crime, not to allow crime to continue to increase, and we embraced that mission. The Violent Crime rate has risen and the homicide rate has risen by more than 20 in just two years. Really after 30 years of decline in Violent Crime. After a careful review, we have established a reinvigorated project Safe Neighborhood Program as the foundational policy for public safety. It has been proven to get results and in its first seven years of implementation reduced Violent Crime by 4. 1 with case studies showing reductions in certain areas where it was intentionally applied of up to 42 were focusing on criminals with guns and weve seen a 23 increase in gun prosecutions in the Second Quarter of this fiscal year, my first year. And im honored to lead the superb men and women of the f. B. I. , the Drug Enforcement administration, atf and the United States Marshall Service who Work Together every day with our state and local partners in this core crimefighting mission that is the responsibility of the department. Last year we saw a staggering 61 increase in the number of Law Enforcement officers killed in the line of duty because of a felony. And on average more than 150 officers were assaulted every single day. These numbers are unacceptable. Fortunately the president understands this. He has directed us at the beginning of my administration, to back our men and women in blue. We are making it clear that we stand with our Law Enforcement partners 100 . They are the solution to crime, not the problem. We have also protected the rule of law in our own department. We prohibited socalled third Party Settlements that were being used to bank roll special interest groups. We settled civil cases regarding the Affordable Care act Birth Control mandate, settled the cases of many groups of tax exempt groups whose status was significantly and wrongfully delayed by the Internal Revenue service. Weve also provided Legal Counsel to this administration in favor of ending several other unlawful policies. This includes President Trumps order ending billions in funding for Insurance Companies that were not appropriated by congress under the Affordable Care act. This action which is house has filed a lawsuit to stop, put an end to one of the most dramatic erosions of the congressional appropriations power in our history. House members, you are correct to challenge that. You won in the district court. We believed you were correct and we had that we reversed the policy and had that matter withdrawn, the policy withdrawn. We put an end to actions by the Previous Administration to circumvent congresss dulyly passed immigration laws on daca. It gave individuals that were here illegally certificates of lawful status, work permits and the right to participate in social security. We withdrew that unlawful policy and now the issue is in the hands of Congress Really where it belongs. We have filed briefs defend properly enacted lawful restricting plans, religious liberty and free speech on college campuses. In short, it is our mission to restore the American Peoples confidence in the department of justice by defending the rule of law and enforcing the laws as you have passed them. And it is a mission we are honored to undertake. In response to letters from this committee and others, i have directed senior federal prosecutors to make recommendations as to whether any matters not currently under investigation should be open. Whether any matters currently under investigation require further resources, and whether any matters under consideration may merit the appointment of a special counsel. And as you are aware, the departments Inspector General has an active review of allegations that f. B. I. Policies and procedures were not followed last year in a number of matters that you have addressed. Mr. Chairman, a letter was addressed to you because it was a response to your letter and thats how it was sent. We will make such decisions without regard hear me without regard to politics, ideology or bias. As many of you know, the department has a longstanding policy not to confirm or deny the existence of investigations. This policy can be frustrating, i understand, especially when there is great Public Interest about a matter. But it enhances justice when we act under the law with professionalism and discipline. This policy necessarily precludes any discussion on cases i may be recused from because to do so would confirm the existence of underlying investigations. To the extent a matter comes to the attention of my office, that may warrant consideration of recusal, i review the issue, consult with the Important Department ethics officials and make my decision as i promised the Senate Committee when i was confirmed. Lastly, i with like to address the false charges made about my previous testimony. My answers have not changed. I have always told the truth, and i have answered every question as i understood them to the best of my recollection as i will continue to do today. I would like to address recent news reports regarding meetings during the campaign attended by George Papadopoulos and carter page, among others. Frankly, i had no recollection of this meeting until i saw these news reports. I do now recall that the march 2016 meeting at the trump hotel that mr. Papadopoulos attended but i have no clear recollection of the details of what he said at that meeting. After reading his account and to the best of my recollection, i believe that i wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the russian government or any other Foreign Government for that matter. But i did not recall this event which occurred 18 months before my testimony of a few weeks ago. And i would gladly have reported it had i remembered it. Because i pushed back against his suggestion that i thought may have been improper. As for mr. Page, while i do not challenge his recollection, i have no memory of his presence at a dinner at the Capitol Hill Club or any passing conversation he may have had with me as he left the dinner. All you have been in campaigns. Let me just suggest. Most of you have not participated in a president ial campaign and none of you had a part in the Trump Campaign. And it was a brilliant campaign, i think, in many ways, but it was a form of chaos every day from day one. We traveled sometimes to several places in one day, sleep was in short supply and i was still a fulltime senator with a very full schedule. During this year ive spent close to 20 hours testifying before congress before today. I have been asked to remember details from a year ago such as who i saw on what day in what meeting and who said what to when. And all of my testimony i can only do my best to answer your questions as i understand them and to the best of my memory. But i will not accept and reject accusations that i have ever lied. That is a lie. Let me be clear, i have at all times conducted myself honorably and in a manner consistent with the high standards and responsibilities of the office of attorney general which i revere. I spent 15 years in that department. I love that department. I honor that department. And will do my dead level best to be worthy of your attorney general. As i said before, my story has never changed. I have always told the truth and i have answered every question to the best of my recollection and i will continue to do so today. With that, mr. Chairman, im honored to take your questions. Thank you. Well proceed under the fiveminute rule with questions and i begin by recognizing myself. Under your leadership the prosecution of firearms offenses have increased 23 over the same period of the previous year. Furthermore, the number of defendants charged with using a firearm in Violent Crimes of Drug Trafficking rose 10 over the previous year. We have a slide which shows the increase as compared to the obamaera numbers. What do these increased prosecutions of firearms offenses indicate about the department of justices commitment to fighting Violent Crime, particularly with the use of firearms in this country . Mr. Chairman, as a former federal prosecutor who emphasized gun prosecutions ive long believed that they have a Significant Impact in reducing Violent Crime. Professors have explained that they share that view based on scientific analysis. It will be a high priority of ours. You are correct that prosecutions fell. One incident that was raised during the texas terrific, horrible shooting at the church there in sutherland springs, texas, was the was the ability of an individual to get a firearm and whether or not they filed correctly their form before you get one. It requires questions about criminal convictions and courtmartials. Those prosecutions ive noticed have dropped by over 50 in the last three or four years. I think those are worthy prosecutions and when a criminal is carrying a gun during a criminal act of some other kind, that is a clear and present danger to the public and those cases are important and they impact reduction of crime. As you are aware i and a majority members of this committee have requested a special counsel to investigate former secretary Hillary Clintons mishandling of classified information and the actions of former attorney general lynch with respect to former f. B. I. Director comeys decision not to prosecute former secretary clinton. Im in receipt of the departments letters from yesterday stating that senior federal prosecutors will review our letters and make recommendations as to whether any matters not currently under investigation should be opened or merit the appointment of a special counsel. Do i have your assurance that these matters will proceed fairly and expeditiously . Yes, you can, mr. Chairman. And you can be sure that they will be done without political influence and they will be done correctly and properly. You also reference an ongoing Inspector General investigation into many of the matters we have raised. Will you insure that the i. G. Briefs this committee on his findings in closed session if necessary . I will do my best to comply with that. The Inspector General is able to announce investigations in a way that we do not on the normal criminal side of the department of justice and i assume he would be able to do that. Over the past year weve seen numerous apparent disclosure of unmasked names of u. S. Citizens in the context of intelligence reports. Which crimes are violated when these unmasked names are disclosed . For example, to the press . How does the department of justice investigate such unauthorized disclosures . Mr. Chairman, that could implicate a number of legal prohibitions. It could be clearly a release of classified information contrary to law. And its a very grave offense and certainly goes against the core policies of this government to protect those matters from disclosure. And the second part of your question was how the Department Investigates . We have members of the committee, we had about nine open investigations of classified leaks in the last three years. We have 27 investigations open today. We intend to get to the bottom of these leaks. I think it raefpd has reached epidemic proportions and cant be allowed to continue and well do our best effort to insure it does not continue. On april 11 you issued a memorandum to all federal prosecutors requesting they make prosecution of certain immigration offenses a higher priority. To your knowledge have the number of federal prosecutions increased nationwide for offenses such as harboring aliens, improper entry and illegal reentry . I do not have the statistics on that but i believe there has been some increases in those cases. One thing weve seen is a reduction of attempts to enter the country illegally. And that is good news and should result in some decline in some prosecutions. And finally as you know, this committee did a great deal of work to enact criminal Justice Reform legislation last congress. Will you continue to work in good faith with me and members of this committee on both sides of the aisle to identify and craft responsible reforms . I certainly will, mr. Chairman. Thank you, i now recognize the Ranking Member of the committee, mr. Conyers, for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And welcome again, mr. Attorney general. I would like to begin by putting a few statements by the president up on the screen. The first from july 24, 2017. So why arent the committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered attorney general looking into crooked hillary crimes and russia relations . The second from november 3rd, everybody is asking why the Justice Department and the f. B. I. Isnt looking at all of the dishonesty going on with crooked hillary and the dems, in quotation. The third, also from november 3rd, pocahontas just stated that the democrats led by the legendary crooked Hillary Clinton rigged the primaries. Lets go to the f. B. I. And Justice Department. I believe he is referring to senator Elizabeth Warren in that last one. When Richard Nixon spoke about us that way, at least he had the courtesy to do it behind closed doors. Mr. Attorney general, a few questions for you, yes or no, please. In a functioning democracy, is it common for the leader of the country to order the criminal Justice System to retaliate against his political opponents . Is that the question . Is it proper, is that what you you answer to me whether it is yes or no, your response. But i didnt quite catch the beginning of the question. In a functioning democracy, is it common for the leader of the country to order the criminal Justice System to retaliate against his political opponents . Mr. Conyers, i would say the department of justice can never be used to retaliate politically against opponents and that would be wrong. Interpresent that as no. The answer stands for itself, i guess. That would make it a little easier if you just responded yes or no if you can. Here is another. Should the president of the United States make Public Comments that might influence a pending criminal investigation . He should take great care in those issues. Could you respond yes or no . I dont know exactly the facts of what you are raising and what amounts to the concern you have. I would say its improper to influence it would be a president cannot improperly influence an investigation. Okay. And i have not been improperly influenced and would not be improperly influenced. The president speaks his mind. He is a bold and direct about what he says but people elected him. But we do our duty every day based on the law and the facts. Im not impugning these comments to you or what you would do in advance. Last night, sir, the assistant attorney general sent the chairman a letter suggesting that the attorney general has directed senior federal prosecutors to evaluate certain issues like the sale of uranium one in 2010. Now, at your confirmation hearing you said i believe the proper thing for me to do would be to recuse myself from any questions involving those kinds of investigations that involve secretary clinton and that were raised during the campaign or to be otherwise connected to it. Now, for my yes or no question. Are you recused from investigations that involve secretary clinton . Mr. Chairman, i cannot answer that yes or no because under the policies of the department of justice, to announce recusal in any investigation would reveal the existence of that investigation and that top ethics officials have advised me i should not do so. The time of the gentleman has expired. The chair recognizes a gentleman from wisconsin mr. Sensenbrenner. Welcome, mr. Attorney general. Were debating whether section 702 should be reauthorized. I want to show you a poster my Campaign Committee put up on the university of whitewater campus in the 2014 election during the debate the usa liberty act. It says the government knows what you did last night. Nsa has grabbed your phone calls, facebook posts and emails. Jim sensenbrenner thinks its an outrageous invasion of your privacy and they asked the students to vote for me. It worked. My percentage on that campus went up 20 points from the previous election. Now, were talking about many of the same issues in terms of section 702 and the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act was designed to collect foreign intelligence, not domestic intelligence. But in reality we know that a vast number of americanss communications are collected the committee tried to balance security and privacy last week when we reported out the usa liberty act which made significant changes to the program. Notably this legislation specifies two ways the government can query the information under section 702. Either foreign intelligence or evidence of a crime. Usa liberty act ensures that the government does not abuse 702 by requiring that a warrant be issued to access content after querying information for evidence of a crime. Now, attorney general sessions, you have stated on several occasions that you believe that a warrant requirement would hinder the governments ability to detect and stop terrorists. Yet this bill already provides the government to move forward without a warrant on foreign intelligence in emergency situations. Why cant the usa liberty act be the compromise . Cant we allow the Intelligence Community to stop terrorists while protecting the Constitutional Rights of americans . Well, we can and Constitutional Rights of americans should be protected. I know you worked on the patriot act when it came up with senator hatch and senator leahy and others and a champion of civil liberties. So i would just say that we can do that. The act as written as in law today has been approved by the court and has not been found to be in violation of the law and so that is first and foremost. I know the committee has decided to put some additional restrictions on the way the act is conducted. We did not think that was lawfully required. Congress can make its own decisions and well continue to be able to share our thoughts about how the legislation should be crafted. Mr. Attorney general, the day before the committee marked up this bill, the Justice Department was actively lobbying members of the committee to oppose the measures stating that it would dismantle section 702. Now, this is a huge gamble because 702 expires at the end of the year. We have a very short timeline and i want to ask you with a yes or no following my friend from michigan. You want to risk the real possibility that this program will expire by insisting upon a clean reauthorization without a sunset . No, we dont want to take that risk. Will you commit to working with congress and not against us to make sure that section 702 is reauthorized either the way you want it or the way we want it . I almost said mr. Chairman. I know youve held that office. Congress gets to dispose. We get to give our opinion. I believe the act as passed and has reauthorized with an even larger vote last time is constitutional. I believe it works, and i am worried about additional burdens particularly a warrant requirement which could be exceedingly damaging to the effectiveness of the act. Were willing to talk to you about some of the concerns that exist out there. Hopefully we can work our way through it and accept the concerns and fix the concerns you have without going too far. With all due respect there is an emergency exemption in the usa liberty act as reported from the committee. That should take care of the problem and yet people in your department were saying this was no good. I take your offer at face value and i will let you know if i hear of members of your department actively lobbying to defeat the bill rather than to work something out. I know youll let us know, mr. Sensenbrenner. The chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. Following up on the questions from mr. Conyers, at your confirmation hearing you said i believe the proper thing for me to do would be to recuse myself if any questions involving these kind of investigations that involve secretary clinton raised during the campaign and otherwise connected to it. Do you stand by that statement, yes or no . Yes. Now, i want to show you an image from march 31, 2016 of a meeting at the Trump Campaign National Security Advisory Committee that you chaired with yourself in attendance along with donald trump and mr. George papadopoulos. Mr. Papadopoulos pled guilty october 5 to making false statements to the f. B. I. The charging papers filed by special counsel mueller describe the meeting where mr. Papadopoulos told the group that he had connections and could help arrange a meeting between donald trump and vladimir putin. After the meeting mr. Papadopoulos continued to communicate with the russian government on behalf of the Trump Campaign and appears to have told several Senior Campaign officials about it. Here is the problem. On october 18th of this year you said under oath in front of the senate Judiciary Committee a continuing exchange of information between trump surrogates and intermediaries with the russian government did not happen, at least not to my knowledge and not with me. Senator frank en asked you dont believe surrogates from the Trump Campaign had communications with the russians . You responded i did not and not aware of anyone else that did. We now know that one, the campaign had communications with the russians. Through mr. Papadopoulos and others and you seem to be aware of the fact at the time. Lets correct the earlier testimony for the correct. Yes or no, did you chair the march 31st, 2016 meeting of the National Security Advisory Committee . I did chair that meeting. Yes or no, did mr. Papadopoulos mention his outreach to the russian government during that meeting . Ao he made some comment to that effect after having read it in the newspaper. There are reports you shut george down when he proposed that meeting with putin. Is this correct, yes or no . Yes, i pushed back. Ill say it that way. Your answer is yes. You were concerned by mr. Papadopouloss connections and his possibly arranging a meeting with putin. Again yes or no. Did anyone else at that meeting, including then candidate trump react in any way to what mr. Papadopoulos presented . I dont recall. Your testimony is that neither donald trump or anyone else expressed interest or concerns about communications between the campaign and the russians. I dont recall it. We know from multiple sources including the papadopoulos guilty plea, carter pages interview with the Intelligence Committee 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 caused you such concern that you shut george down. I want to know what you did with this information. Yes or no. After the march 31 meeting did you take any steps to prevent Trump Campaign officials with further outreach to the russians . Mr. Nadler, let me say it this way. I pushed back at that. You made statements that he did in fact at the meeting i pushed back. We know that. I have to be able to answer. I cant be able to this is a position that i need to explain. I wont be able to 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, advisors or employees from further outreach to the russians after you pushed back at the meeting. You allege there were some further contacts later. I dont believe i had any knowledge of any further contacts and i was not in regular contact with mr. Papadopoulos. Your answer is no because you dont think there were any such contacts im not aware of it. I was going to ask you a question of did you raise the issue with various people. Your answer is no. To the best of my recollection. Okay. So your testimony today is you communicated with nobody in the campaign about this matter after the march 31 meeting because nothing happened. Repeat that. Your testimony therefore is that you communicated with nobody in the campaign about this matter after the march 31 meeting. I dont recall it. You dont recall. At some point you became aware that the f. B. I. 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 f. B. I. . Did i discuss the matter with the f. B. I. . Ask them questions about what they may have found . I have not had any discussions with mr. Mueller or his team or the f. B. I. Concerning any factors with regard to nobody else at the f. B. I. Either . No. At the department of justice . No. The white house . No. Eric any member of congress . Not to obtain information. With regard to your broad question, i dont recall at this moment sitting here any such discussion. Its important for me to say that. The time of the gentlemen has expired. We have a lot of people waiting to ask questions. The chair recognizes mr. Shabiot for five minutes. Mr. Attorney general does your recusal from investigations related to the interference by russia in the 2016 president ial campaign apply to any investigations regarding efforts by the Democratic National committee and the Clinton Campaign to secretly fund a widely discredited dossier on candidate mr. Chairman, anything that arises in this nature that may be or may not be connected to my recusal on the question of the campaign in russia would be discussed between me, the senior ethics advisor at the department of justice and thats how i make my decision, thats what i promised to do when i was confirmed before the senate Judiciary Committee, thats what i will do. I am unable to provide information to you as to what decision has been made in this matter. Thank you very much. I am not and never was a prosecutor, but i did some middle defense work back in the day when i practice law for almost 20