Attorney General Jeff Sessions is preparing to appear before the Seante Intelligence Committee Tuesday, becoming the highest ranking official yet to comment on the investigation.
He will likely face sharp questions from his former Senate colleagues about his role in the firing of James Comey, his Russian contacts during the campaign, and his decision to recuse himself from an investigation into Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 president election.
The public testimony Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence committee should yield Sessions’ most extensive comments to date on questions that led him three months ago to step aside from the Russia probe.
Sessions on Saturday said he would appear before the intelligence committee, which has been doing its own investigation into Russian contacts with President Donald Trump’s campaign.
There had been some question as to whether the hearing would be open to the public, but the Justice Department said Monday he requested it be so because he “believes it is important for the American people to hear the truth directly from him.” The committee shortly after said the hearing would be open.
Sessions, a close campaign adviser to Trump and the first senator to endorse him, stepped aside from the investigation in early March after intense pressure from Democrats. He acknowledged he had spoken with the Russian ambassador months before the election, leading to wild speculation from the liberal media that he had colluded with them on influencing the election.
Sessions is likely to be asked about his conversations with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and whether there were more encounters that should have been made public.
He can expect questions about his involvement in former FBI Director James Comey’s May 9 firing, the circumstances surrounding his decision to recuse himself from the FBI’s investigation, and whether any of his actions — such as interviewing candidates for the FBI director position or meeting with Trump about Comey — violated his recusal pledge.
Asked Monday if the White House thought Sessions should invoke executive privilege to avoid answering questions about his conversations with Trump, presidential spokesman Sean Spicer replied, “It depends on the scope of the questions. To get into a hypothetical at this point would be premature.”
He did not explicitly endorse Sessions’ appearance, saying in response to a question, “We’re aware of it, and we’ll go from there.”
The Justice Department maintains that it has fully disclosed the extent of Sessions’ foreign contacts last year, but liberal lawmakers have continued to aggressively press him for answers about an April 2016 event at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, where both Sessions and Kislyak attended a foreign policy speech by Trump.
Liberals are ignoring the fact that the speech was a political event relevant to both men, and have jumped to the conclusion that Sessions and Kislyk had a secret meeting at the Mayflower Hotel.
Justice Department officials maintain that there were no private encounters or side meetings.
The Senate hearing will take place at 2:30 ET.
Stay tuned to The Horn News for updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.