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, 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. And charging documents unsealed last month, George Papadopoulos, a foreignpolicy advisor to the Trump Campaign, admits to Extensive Communications with russian contacts. At a march 31, 2016, meeting of the campaigns National Security advisory committee, attended by candidate trump, and chaired by senator sessions, mr. Papadopoulos stated in some and in 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 unnamed sources say the senator shot george down. Under oath knowing in advance that he would be asked about the subject, 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. 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 fbi, and special counsel robert mueller. He did fire former fbi director comey, in his own words, quote, because of that russia thing with trump and russia, and 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, end quote. And judge curiel 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. But 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 and ability. Sessions never should have recused himself, the president complained. Then the conversation takes a sinister turn. When nixon came along, out of courtesy, the fbi started reporting to the department of justice, but the fbi person really reports directly to the president of the United States. Egos on. He goes on. I could have ended the Flynn Investigation just by saying they say it cant be obstruction because you can say it in bed, its over. As is often the case the president requires some correction. The director of the fbi 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 of you 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, dismissed charges against his allies, and insulate himself and his family from any consequence. I cannot overemphasize the danger of this perspective 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 enemies list. And although we work 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 began 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 the issues has political motivations. Now, in his own words, the attorney general is recused from any questions involving investigations that involve secretary clinton. President we cannot refer an investigation to a second counsel is we lack the evidence to predicate a criminal investigation in the first place. Virtually, every clinton related matter that President Trump complains about has been well litigated, carefully examined, and completely debunked. Still, to quote form attorney general mike 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 is the mattef routine oversight between hearings. In the recent history of this committee, new attorneys generally usually 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 ten 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 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 think you and you back the balance of my time. Thanks mr. Condit. Without objection all of the members of the exhibits will be made a part of the record. We welcome our distinguished witness and if you would please rise, ill begin by swearing you in. Please raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony youre about to get jumpy the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god . Thank you. Let the wreckage of the witness answered in the affirmative. Let the record show. Miss Jeff Sessions werent in as 84th attorney general of the United States on february 9, 2017. From 1996 to his confirmation to leave the department of justice mr. Session served as a United States senator for alabama. Previously attorney general sessions served as an assistant United States attorney and United States attorney for the Southern District of alabama. Alabama attorney general, and captain in the United States army reserves. Attorney general sessions is a graduate of Huntington College and the university of alabama law school. Welcome, attorney general sessions. Your antiwritten statement will be entered into the record, and we ask that you summarize your testimony in five minutes but i noted the Ranking Member took a few more minutes than that, if you find that necessary please feel free to do that as well. Welcome. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, is an honor to be before this distinguished committee, having served 20 years on your counterpart in the senate, 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 hope it will continue to be good as you serve your. 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 be on all nations. So i truly believe that, and at this department we must do all we can to ensure that it is preserved and advanced such ideals, frames and politics. Found that date to today we at the department of justice have worked to be faithful to that nation. Let me share some things weve done initially. The president sent us in order to reduce crime, not to allow client 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 and Violent Crime. After a careful review we have established a reinvigorated project Safe Neighborhood Program as a foundational policy for public safety. It has been proven to get results in its first seven years of implementation, and reduce Violent Crime by 4. 1 with case study showing reductions in certain areas where was intentionally applied up, up to 42 . So were also focusing on criminals with guns as you mentioned, mr. Chairman, and weve seen a 23 increase in gun prosecutions, in the Second Quarter of this first fiscal year, my first year. And im honored to lead the superb men and women of the fbi, the Drug Enforcement administration, atf and United StatesMarshals Service who Work Together every day with our state and local partners in this court 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. 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. Weve also protected the rule of law and her own department. We prohibited socalled thirdparty settlements that were being used to bankroll special interest groups. We settled civil cases regarding the Affordable Care act birthcontrol mandate, settled the case is that many groups of taxexempt 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 with the house it filed a lawsuit to stop, putting into one of the most dramatic erosions of the congressional appropriations power in our history. House members, you are correct to childish that. You one in the district court. We believe you are correct and we had, we reversed the policy and have that matter withdrawn, policy withdrawn. We put into action by the Previous Administration to circumvent congresses duly passed immigration laws on the daca. The policy individuals who are 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 defending properly enacted state voter identification laws, lawful redistricting 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 in. 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 truly an investigation require further resources and whether any matters under consideration may make the appointment of a special counsel. And as you are aware, the departments Inspector General has an active review of allegations that fbi policies and procedures were not followed last year in a number of matters that you address. And 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 with 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 theres great Public Interest about a matter. But it enhances justice when we act under the law with professionalism and discipline. This policy necessarily preclude 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 come to the attention of my office that may warrant consideration of refusal, i review the issue, consult with the appropriate Department Ethics officials, and make my decision, as i promised the Senate Committee when i was confirmed lastly, like to address the false charges made about my previous testimony. My answers have not changed. Ive always told the truth, and i 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 a 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 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 but i did not recall this et 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 is 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, but 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 i spent close to 20 hours testifying before congress, before today. I have been asked to remember details from a year ago such as i saw on what day and what meeting and who said what to win. And all of my testimony i can only do my best to answer your questions, as i understand them into the best of my memory. But i will not accept and reject accusations that ive 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. Ive always told the truth and answered every question to the best of my recoll