0_yihewgs4 – AG Jeff Sessions in Philadelphia to address the Int'l Association of Chiefs of Police and make an announcement on plans to combat MS-13.
It's schedule to start at 11 a.m., EST - you can watch it LIVE here on ClickOnDetroit.com.
Jeff Sessions on Russia interference: 'I'm not part of a façade'
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday faced tough questions from his former colleagues on the Senate judiciary committee -- forcing him to once again repeatedly deny any improper contacts with the Russian government during the presidential campaign.
"My concern is you were part of the Russian facade and went along with it," Vermont Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy said after a second round of tense questioning as the hearing stretched into the afternoon. "I'm sorry, I've known you for years, and I'm sorry you would do that. "
Sessions denied the allegation and expressed dismay that his former committee chairman would make it.
"It did hurt me to hear you say I'm part of a façade, I'm not part of a façade," Sessions said.
During the nearly five-hour hearing that touched on topics including Russian election meddling, immigration and criminal justice reform, Sessions also debated executive privilege with committee Democrats.
Sessions refused to discuss his "confidential conversations with the President," rejecting Democrats' questions about his interactions with President Donald Trump despite their pre-hearing warnings they expected him to answer, saying they were misunderstanding executive privilege.
"I can neither assert executive privilege neither can I disclose today the contents of my confidential conversations with the President," Sessions said. "It is well established that the President is entitled to have private, confidential conversations with his Cabinet officials ... such communications are the core of executive privilege."
Chairman Chuck Grassley backed up Sessions after several rounds of such questions, saying former Attorney General Eric Holder had made similar claims during the Obama administration.
Over the hours of his testimony, Sessions defended his integrity amid sharp questioning from Democrats -- in particular Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota -- who grilled Sessions over previous comments he made during his confirmation process where he said he had not had been in contact with anyone connected to the Russian government during the presidential campaign, a topic of keen interest amid the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the US election.
It was later revealed that Sessions met with then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak on multiple occasions.
"I've committed myself to a high level of public service, to reach the highest level of standards and decency in my public service," Sessions told Franken. "You have now gone through this long talk that I believe is totally unfair to me."
Sessions' comments on executive privilege were a disappointment to the panel's Democrats, who had written him an earlier letter that they expected him to testify about conversations he had with the President about the firing about former FBI Director James Comey.
Sessions told the committee: "I cannot waive that privilege myself or otherwise compromise his ability to assert it."
Sessions also grew visibly uncomfortable when Leahy asked him about his interactions with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Leahy pressed Sessions on whether he had been interviewed by Mueller, not allowing Sessions to demur to ask the special counsel about it first.
"The answer's no," Sessions finally said.
In an awkward follow-up exchange later with Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Democrat pressed Sessions on whether he or his office had been asked for an interview, with Sessions smiling wanly as he avoided giving a firm answer.
"I don't think so," Sessions said, adding he was "not aware of it."
Incredulous, Blumenthal asked Sessions if he was sure. Sessions said he would follow up "within hours."
"I don't know," Sessions said. "You seem to know, I don't want to come in here and be trapped. .. I will check and let you know."
Later in the questioning, Sessions added: "My staff handed me a note that I have not been asked for an interview at this point. ... Maybe you better check your source."
Wednesday's hearing is the Judiciary committee's first turn to ask questions of Sessions since his confirmation hearing, a sore subject for committee Democrats who have pushed for a chance to question the attorney general on a range of issues, including the Russia investigation and the extent of his prior contacts with Russian officials that led to his recusal from the investigation.
Trump met with US attorney candidates with connections to law firms of close confidantes
President Donald Trump personally interviewed two candidates with connections to the law firms of close Trump confidantes for influential US attorney positions in Manhattan and Brooklyn, an unusual move that has prompted one senator to threaten their potential confirmations.
Geoffrey Berman, an attorney at the firm that currently employs Rudy Giuliani as a leading partner, met with Trump about a position atop the Southern District of New York, which covers Manhattan, two sources familiar with the meeting said. Ed McNally, a partner at the New York law firm founded by Trump's personal attorney Marc Kasowitz interviewed for the Eastern District of New York, overseeing Brooklyn, the sources said.
The two men appeared over the summer on a list of top candidates for the positions that was sent to officials involved in the vetting process before a formal nomination, according to another source familiar with the vetting.