Id like to call the hearing to order, please. Attorney general sessions, i appreciate your willingness to appear before the committee today. I thank you for your years of dedicated service as a member of this body and your recent leadership at the department of justice. As ie mentioned when director comey appeared before us last week, this committees role is to be the eyes and ears for the other 85 members of the United States senate and for the American People, ensuring that the Intelligence Community is operating lawfully and has the necessary tools to keep america safe. The community is a large and diverseth place. We recognize the gravity of our investigation into russias interference in the 2016 elections. Butt i remind constituents that while we investigate russia we are scrutinizing cias budget while were investigating russia, we are still scrutinizing cias budget, nsas 702 program, the nations Satellite Program and the entire i. C. Effort to recruit and retain the best talent we can findnd in the world. Morere often than not the committee conducts work s behin closed doors. A necessary step to ensure the most sensitive sources and methods arean protected. The sangtty of the sources and methods are at the heart of the Intelligence Communitys ability to keep us safe and to keep our allies safed from those who see to harm us. Ive said repeatedly that i do believe any committee that the committee does should be done in public. But i also recognize the gravity of the committees current investigation and the need for the American People to be presented the facts so that they might make their own judgments. It is for that reason that this committee has now held its 10th open hearing of 2017. More than doublee that of the committee in recent years, and thes fifth on the topic of russian interference. Attorney general sessions, this venue is your opportunity to separate fact from fix fiction opinion andes to retire the recd freight og a a number of issues reported if the press. For example there are a number of issues i hopeful we will dress to do. Number one did you have any meetings w with russian officia on the Trump Campaign during your time as attorney general. Two what wase your voflt with te trump team and possible interactions with russians. 3 why did you recuse yourself from the Russian Investigation . Andd fourth what role if any di you play in the removal of then fbi director comey . I look forward to a candid and honest i discussion as we contie to pursue the truth behind russias interference in the 2016 elections. The committees experienced sfaf is interviewing the rely parties having spoken to more than 35 individuals to date, to include just yesterday an interview of former Homeland Security secretary unjohnson. We also continue to review some of thel most sensitive intelligence in our countrys poksz. As ive said previously we will establish the facts, separate from rampant speculation and lay them tout out for the people of the america to make judgment. Only then will we be able to put in episode to rest and look to thees future. Im hopeful members focus their questions today on the russia investigation and not squander the opportunity by taking political orr partisan shots. The vice chairman and i can continueue to lead this investigation together on what is a highly charged political issue. We may disagree at times but we remain a unified team with a dead tatd o indicated, focused and professional staff working tirelessly on behalf of the American People to find the truth. The committee has made progress as the political winds below forcefully around us. I believe all the members agree zprietatorent of public debate and what committee might be best suited to lead on this issue, the Intelligence Committee has lived up to its obligation to moves forward with purpose and abovee politics. Mr. Attorney general, its good to havey you back. Turn to the vice chairman for any t remarks he might have. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Andoo i want to also thank the y were proceeding on the investigation. It mr. Attorney general its good to see you again. And we appreciate your appearance on the heels of mr. Comeys revealing testimony last week. I do, though want to take a moment at the outset and First Express some concern with the process by which we are seeing you s the attorney general today. Its my understanding that you were originallyda scheduled to testify in front of the house and Senate Appropriations committees today. Ire know the appearances have bn cancelled to come here instead. While we appreciate his testimony,ak before our committ, i believe and i peek i believe i speak for many of my colleagues i believe you should also answer questions from members of those committees and the Judiciary Committee as well process. Mr. Attorney general. In its my hope you will reschedule the appearances as soon as possible. In addition i want to say at the outset whilera we consider your appearance today as just the beginning of our interaction withey you and your department. Mr. Attorney general we have always expected to talk talk to you as part of the investigation. We believed it would be actually qu in the process. Were gladou to accommodate you requestt to speak to us today. But we also expect to have your commitment to cooperate with all future requests and make yourself v available as necessa to this committee for as the chairman has indicated this vere important investigation. Now, lets move to the subject of todays discussion. Letsmp start with the campaign. You were an early and ardant supporter of mr. Trump. In marchor you were named as chairman of the Trumps National security advisory committee. You were more than a is your fwit. You were a strategic adviser who helped shape much of the campaigns National Security strategy. No doubt you will will have key insights aboutut some of the ke Trump Associates that were seeking to hear from in the weeks ahead. Questions have also beenth rais about some of your own interactions with russian officials during the campaign. During your confirmation hearing inin jan you said, quote, you d not have communications with russians. Senator leahy lart asked in writing whether you had been in contact with anyone connected to any part of theno russian government about theit 2016 election. You answered i believe with a definitive no. Despite that fact, despite that the fact is as we discovered later he you did have interactions with russian government officials during the course of the campaign. In march you acknowledged two meetings with the Russian Ambassador. Yet there is also some public reports of a possible third meeting at the may flower hotel on april 27th. I hope that today you will help clear up the discrepancies. We also expect and hope this is very important that youll be willing to provide the kpt with if he documents we need to shed light on the issue such as emails or calendars. Then there is the topic of the firing of former fbi director comey. Last thursday we received testimony from mr. Comey. Under oath he outlined his very 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 at the fbi serving under president s of both parties, was so unnerved by the actions of the president that he felt, quote, compelled to fully document every interaction they had. Mr. Comey sat where you are sitting today and testified that he was concerned about that the president of the United States might lie about the nature of their meetings. Thats a shocking statement from one of our nations top Law Enforcement officials. We also heard that director comey tookt it as a direction from the president that he was to drop the investigation into former National Security adviser mike flynn. Finally we heard from mr. Comey that he believes he was fired over his handling of the russia investigation. The president himself confirmed this in statements to the media. This is deeply troubling for all of us who believe on both sides of the aisle in preserving the independence of the fbi. We havepr a lot of work in orde to follow up on these larges disclosures. Mr. Attorney general your testimony today is an opportunity to begin the process of asking those questions. For instance, again and i though others will ask about this you recused yourself from the russia investigation. Yet you participated in the firing of mr. Comey over the handling of that same investigation. We want to ask you about how you view your recusal and whether you believe youve complied with it fully. In addition we heard pr mr. Comey last week that the president asked you to leave the oval office so he could speak oneonone with mr. Comey. Again, a very concerning action. We will need to hear from you about how you reviewed how you viewed the request and whether you thought it was appropriate. We also want to know if you are aware of any attempts by the president to enlist leaders in the interrelation community to undermine this very same russia investigation. Most importantly, our committee will want to hear what you are doing to ensure that the russians or any other foreign adversaries cannot attack our democratic process like this again. Im concerned that the president still does not recognize the severity of the threat. He to date i believe has not acknowledged the unanimous conclusions of the u. S. Intelligence community that russia massively intervene in our elections. The threat we face is real and not limited to us. The recent events in france are again a stark reminder that all western democracies must take steps to protect themselves. I believe the United States can and must be a leader in and mus leader in the effort but all require our administration to getna serious about this matter. We have seen a concerning pattern of the officials. About allegations about the president in this investigation. We had a hearing with this subject last week. I want to commend the chairman who at the end of that hearing made very clear that our residence witnesses, it was not acceptable for them to come before Congress Without answer. Attorney general general sessions, i will administer the oath to you. Raise your right hand if you will please. Do you solemnly swear to tell thee truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth to help you god . I do. Thank you. Please be seated. Thank you. The floor is yours. Pe before your committee toda. Is appreciate the committees critically importantia efforts investigate russian interference withan our democratic processes. Suchte interference can never b tolerated and i encourage every effort toal get to the bottom o any such allegations. As you know, c the deputy attory general has appointed a special counsel to investigate thehe matters related to the russian interference in the 2016 election. I am here today to address several issues that have been specifically raised before this committee. And ily appreciate the opportuny to respond to questions as fully as the lord enables me to do so. But as i advise you, mr. Chairman, in consistent with longpr standing justice practic i t cannot and will not violatey duty to protect the Confidential Communications with the president. I did not attend any meetings at that event separate prior to the speech, i attended by the president htoday, i attended a reception with my staff that included, at least, twodozen people and President Trump. Though i do recall several conversations that i had during thatof free speech reception. I do not have any reck clags of meeting, talking to the Russian Ambassador or any other russian officials. I do not remember it. After the speech, i was interviewed by theff news media. There was an area for that in a different room and then i left the hotel. But whether i ever attended a reception where the Russian Ambassador was also present is entirely beside the point of this investigationso into russi interference in a 2016 campaign. Let me state this clearly, colleagues. I have never met with or had any conversation with any russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election in the United States. Further, i have no knowledge of any such conversations by anyone connected with the Trump Campaign. I was your colleague in this body for 20 years, at least, some of you. And the suggestion that i participated in any collusion that i was aware of any collusion with the russian government to hurt this country, which i haves, served with hono for 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process is an appalling and detestable lie. Relatedly, there is the assertion that i did not answer senator frankens question honestly at my confirmation hearing. R colleagues, that isha false. I cantls say colleagues now, im no longer a part of that body. Ra former colleagues, that is false. This is what happened. Senator franken asked me a rambling question after six hours of testimony that included dramatic new allegations that thep, United States intelligenc community had advised president elect trump quote that there was during the campaign betweenme trumps surrogates an intermediaries for the russian government close quote. I was taken aback by that allegation which he said was being reported as breaking news that very day in which i had not heard. I wanted to refute that immediately. Any suggestion that i was part of such anwa activity, i replie to senatorf franken this way, quote. Senator franken i am not aware of any of those activities. I didnt have communications with the russians and i am unablext to comment on it. Closed quote. That was the context in which i was askeds the question and in that context, my answer was a fair and correct response to the charge as i understood. Ad i was responding to this allegation that we had met, the surrogates had t been meeting wh the russians on a regular base. And toh 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. And t it was only in march, aft 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 been square posed toto me. On theta same day we provided tt reporter with the information related to the meeting that i and my staff held in my office withn ambassador kislyak after speech i had been given during a convention in cleveland, ohio. I alsot provided the reporter with a list of 25 foreign ambassador meetings that i had during 2016. In addition i provided supplemental testimony to the Senate Judicial committee to explain thiss event. So i readily acknowledge these two meetings and certainly not one thing happened that was improper inst any one of those meetings. Let me also explain clearly the circumstances of my i recusal fi the investigation into the russian interference with the 2016 election. Please, colleagues, hear me on this. I was v sworn in as attorney general on thursday, february 9th. The w very next day as i had promised to the Judiciary Committee to discuss things publicly n reported in the pres that might have bearing on whether or not iin should recus myself in this case. Fromnn that point, february 10t until i announced my formal recusal on march 2nd, i was briefed on investigative detailsio and did not access an information about thear investigation. Ias received the limited information that the departmentsci career official determine that it was necessary for me to form and make a recusalti decision. As such i have no knowledge aboutli this investigation as i isea ongoing today beyond what s been publicly reported. I dont even read that carefully and i have taken no action whatsoever withma regard with a such investigation. On the date of my formal recusal,ea my chief of staff se an email to the heads of Relevant Department including by nameuc to director comey of the fbi to instruct them, to inform their staffs of this recusal and to advise them not to brief me or involve me in any way in any such matters. And in m fact they have not. Importantly, i recuse myself not because of any wrongdoing or any belief thatar i may have been involved in wrongdoing in the campaign but because of departmentat regulation. I felt the regulation required it. That regulation states that Department Employees should not participate in an investigation in a campaign does not and cannot interfere with my ability to oversee the department of justice including the fbi which has an 8 billion budget and 35,000se 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 a letter recommending the removal of mr. Comey along with the Deputy Attorney generals memorandum on that issue. Which had been released publicly by the white house. Those represent a clear statement of myra views. Is adopted Deputy Attorney generall Rod Rosenstein points and made my recommendation. Would render the attorney general unable to manage the leadership of the various department of justice Law Enforcement o components that conduct thousands of investigations. Finally, during his h testimony mr. Comey discussed a conversation that he and i had about the meeting mr. Comey and i had with the president. I am happy to share my recollection of that conversation i had with mr. Om comey. Following a routi