[indiscernible conversation] i call the hearing to order, please. Attorney general sessions, i appreciate your willingness to appear before the committee today. Thank you for your years of dedication. As i mentioned when director comey appeared before us last week, this committees role is to be the eyes in the ears of the other members of the United States senate. And sharing the Intelligence Community is operating lawfully. The community is a large and diverse place. We recognize the gravity of our 2016tigation into the elections but i remind our constituents that while we investigate russia, we are scrutinizing the cias budget while investigating russia, we are still investigating the budget and the 702 program, our nations subtly program and the entire effort to recruit and maintain the best talent we can. Conducts the committee its investigations behind closed doors. The sanctity of sources and methods is part of the ability to keep us safe. I said repeatedly i did not should doy committee anything in public but i also gravity of the investigation and the need for the American People to be presented the facts so they can make their own judgments. It is for that reason this its 10th has now held open hearing of 2017. More than double that of the committee of recent years and the fifth on the topic of russian interference. There are several issues i am hopeful we will address today. Meetingsyou have any during your time is attorney general . What was your involvement with the policy team and what were the possible interactions with russians . Decide to recuse yourself from the investigation and what role, if any, did you play in the role of the removal of thendirector james comey . I look forward to candidate discussion as we continue to pursue the truth about russias interference with the 2016 elections. We have interviewed relevant parties, spoken to more than 35 people, to include yesterday an interview with former Homeland Security secretary jeh johnson. Work with some of the most precious and intelligence and our country. We will separate the facts from rampant speculation and lay them out for the American People to make their own judgment. Only then will we be able to put this episode to rest and look at the future. Hopefullly members will focus on your investigation and not squander the opportunity by taking political or personal shots. The Vice President and i continue to lead this investigation together on what is a highly charged investigation. Disagree at times but we remain with a tireless staff truth. To get the he wind blows forcefully hind us. And i think everyone would agree debate, the a Intelligence Committee has lived up to its obligation to move forward with purpose and above politics. To have you back. I will now turn to the chairman for any remarks he might have. Drags it is good to see you again. We appreciate your appearance on the heels of mr. Comeys last week. Estimony i want to take a moment to express some concern with the process by which we are seeing you today. It is my understanding you are scheduled to testify in the Senate Appropriations committee. I know those appearance have been canceled. While we appreciate the and i speak believe thatany of my colleagues, we should also answer questions from members of those committees and the Judiciary Committee as well. I hope you will reschedule those appearances as soon as possible. In addition, while we consider your appearance today as just the beginning of our interaction with you and George Department we had always expected to talk to as part of our investigation. We believed it would be later in the process. To accommodate your respect your request to speak with us today. But we also expect you to make your self available as necessary. Now, lets move to the subject of todays discussion. Lets talk about the campaign. You were an early and Ardent Supporter of mr. Trump. In march you are named as chairman of the National Security advisory committee. You were Strategic Advisor who helped shape much of the campaigns National Security strategy. No doubt you will have key insights about some of the key Trump Associates we are seeking to hear from in the weeks ahead. Been raisedve also about some of your own interactions with russians during the campaign. In january you said we did not have communications with russians. Later you are acted weather you were asked if you had had contact with anyone to the russian government throughout the election, and you said you believed you had. Despite that, as it was discovered later, you did have interaction with russian officials during because of the campaign. In march you knowledge to meetings with the Russian Ambassador. There has also been public reports of a possible third meeting at the Mayflower Hotel on it from 27. I have today you will help clear up those discrepancies. We also expect you would be willing to provide the committee with any documents you need to shed light on the investigation, such as emails. Then there is the topic of firing former fbi director james comey. We received testimony from him last week, under oath. He outlined his troubling interactions with the president , as well as the circumstances of his firing. A few disturbing points stood out. First, mr. Comey who has decades of experience at the department of justice and the fbi, serving under president s of both parties. He was so unnerved by the actions of the president that he compelled to fully document every action they had. He testified he was concerned that the president of the United States might lie about the nature of their meetings. That is a shocking statement from one of our nations top Law Enforcement professionals. She also said he was asked to drop the investigation into general mike flynn. Mr. Comey believed he was fired over his handling of the Russian Investigation. The president confirmed these statements to the media. This is deeply troubling for all of us to believe on both sides of the aisle for preserving the independence of the fbi. We need to follow up on the alarming disclosures. Testimonyns, your today is an opportunity to begin answering those questions. You recuse yourself from the Russian Investigation yet you participated in the firing of esther comey over the handling of that same investigation. If you want to ask you complied with it fully. We heard from mr. Comey last week that the president asked you to leave the oval office so he could speak oneonone to james coming. Again, a very concerning action. We will need to hear from you about how you view the president s request and whether you thought it was appropriate. We will also want to know if you are aware of any attempt by the president to enlist leaders of the Intelligence Community to undermine this investigation. To hearittee will want what you are doing to ensure the russians or any other foreign adversaries cannot attack our democratic process like this ever again. I am concerned. Not recognize the severity of the threat, the president has not even thegnized or knowledge conclusions of the u. S. Intelligence community that russia massively intervened in elections. Our elections. The threat is real and not limited to us. The recent events in france are a stark reminder that all western democracies must take steps to protect themselves. And it will require our administration to get serious about this matter. In the past several weeks, we have seen officials refusing to answer public unclassified questions about allegations about the president and this investigation. We had a hearing with this subject last week. And i commend the chairman who at the end of the hearing made very clear that our witnesses, it was not acceptable for our witnesses to come before Congress Without answers. The American People deserve to know what is going on here. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator burr attorney general sessions, if you would stand, i will administer the oath to you. Do you solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god . Attorney general sessions i do. Senator burr the floor is yours. Attorney general sessions thank you tore for allowing me to appear. I appreciate the committees important efforts to investigate russian interference. Such interference can never be tolerated and i encourage every effort to get to the bottom of any such allege. As you know, the Deputy Attorney general has appointed a special counsel toll investigate the matters relating to the russian interference in the 2016 election. Im here to address several issues that have been raised before this committee. And i appreciate the opportunity to respond to questions as fully as the lord enables me to do so. But as i advise you, mr. Chairman, and consistent with Longstanding Department of justice practice, i cannot and will not violate my duty to protect the Confidential Communications i have with the president. Now, let me address some issues directly. I did not have any private meetings nor do i recall any conversations with any russian officials at the Mayflower Hotel. I did not attend any meetings at that event separate, prior to the speech i attended by the president today. I attended a reception with my staff that included at least two dozen people and President Trump, though i do recall several conversations that i had during that prespeech reception. I do not have any recollection of meeting or talking to the Russian Ambassador or any other russian official. If any brief interaction occurred in passing with the Russian Ambassador during that reception, i did not remember it. After the speech, i was interviewed by the news media, there was an area for that, in a different room. Then i left the hotel. Whether i attended a reception where the Russian Ambassador was also present. The Trump Campaign. Had aware of any collusion with the russian government to hurt this country, which i have served with honor for 35 years, or to under mine the integrity of our democratic process is an appalling and detestable lie. Related, there is the assertion that i did not answer senator frankens question honestly at my confirmation hearing. Colleagues, that is false. I cant say colleagues now. Im no longer a part of this body. But former colleagues, that is false. This is what happened. Senator franken asked me a rambling question after some six hours of testimony that included dramatic new allegations that the United StatesIntelligence Community, the u. S. Intelligence community, had advised president elect trump, quote, that there was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between trump surrogates and intermediaries for the russian government, close quote. I was taken aback by that explosive allegation which he said was being reported as breaking news that very day, and which i had not heard. I wanted to refute that immediately. Any suggestion that i was part of such an activity. I replied, quote, i replied to senator franken this way, quote, senator franken, im not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign and i did not didnt have, did not have communications with the russians and im unable to comment on it, close quote. That was the context in which i was asked the question. And in that context, my answer was a fair and correct response to the charge as i understood it. I was responding to this allegation that surrogates had been meeting with the russians on a regular basis. It simply did not occur to me to go further than the context of the question and to list any conversations that i may have had with russians in routine situations as i had many routine meetings with other foreign officials. So please hear me now. It was only in march, after my confirmation hearing, that a reporter asked my spokesperson whether i had ever met with any russian officials. This was the first time that question had squarely been posed to me. On the same day, we provided that reporter with the information related to the meeting that i and my staff had held in my Senate Office with ambassador kislyak as well as the brief encounter in july after a speech that i had given during the convention in cleveland, ohio. I also provided the reporter with a list of 25 foreign ambassador meetings that i had had during 2016. In addition, i provided supplemental testimony to the senate Judiciary Committee to explain this event. So i readily acknowledged these two meetings and certainly not one thing happened that was improper in any one of those meetings. Let me also explain clearly the circumstances of my recusal from the investigation into the russian interference with the 2016 election. Please, please, hear me on this. I was sworn in as attorney general on thursday, february 9th. The very next day, as i had promised to the Judiciary Committee i would do, at least at an early date, i met with Career Department officials, including a senior ethics official, to discuss some things publicly reported in the press that might have some bearing on whether or not i should recuse myself in this case. From that point, february 10th, until i announced my formal recusal on march 2nd, i was never briefed on any investigative details, did not access any information about the investigation. I received only the limited information that the Department Career officials determined was necessary for me to form and make a recusal decision. As such, i have no knowledge about this investigation as it is ongoing today beyond what has been publicly reported. I dont even read that carefully. And i have taken no act whatsoever with regard to any such investigation. On the date of my formal recusal, my chief of staff sent an email to the heads of relevant departments, including by name to director comey of the fbi, to instruct them to inform their staff of this recusal and to advise them not to brief me or involve me in any way, in any such matters, and in fact they have not. Importantly, i recused myself not because of any asserted wrongdoing or any belief that i may have been involved in any wrongdoing in the campaign, but because a department of justice regulation, 28 cfr 45. 2, i felt required it. That regulation states in effect that Department Employees should not participate in investigation of a campaign if they served as a campaign adviser. So the scope of my recusal, however, does not and cannot interfere with my ability to oversee the department of justice, including the fbi which has an 8 billion budget and 35,000 employees. I presented to the president my concerns and those of Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein, about the ongoing leadership issues at the fbi as stated in my letter recommending the removal of mr. Comey along with the Department Attorney generals memorandum on that issue, which have been released publicly by the white house. Those represent a clear statement of my views. I adopted Deputy Attorney general rosensteins points that he made in his memorandum and made may recommendation. It is absurd, frankly, to suggest that a recusal from a single specific investigation with render the attorney general unable to manage the leadership of the various department of justice Law Enforcement components that conduct thousands of investigations. Finally, during his testimony, mr. Comey discussed a conversation that he and i had about the meeting mr. Comey had with the president. I am happy to share with the committee my recollection of that conversation that i had with mr. Comey. Following a routine morning threat briefing, mr. Comey spoke to me and my chief of staff. While he did not provide me with any of the substance of his conversation with the president , apparently the day before, mr. Comey expressed concern about Proper Communications protocol with the white house and with the president. I responded, he didnt recall this, but i responded to his comment by agreeing that the fbi and the department of justice needed to be careful to follow Department Policies regarding appropriate contacts with the white house. Mr. Comey had served in the department for better than two decades and i was confident that he understood and would abide by the wellestablished rules limiting communications with the white house, especially about Ongoing Investigations. Thats whats so important to control. My comments encouraged him to do just that. And indeed, as i understand it, he in fact did that. Our department of justice rules on Proper Communications between the department and the white house have been in place for years. Mr. Comey well knew them. I thought and assumed correctly that he complied with them. Ill finish with this. I recused myself from any investigation into the campaign for president. But i did not recuse myself from defending my honor against scurrilous and false allegations. At all times throug