Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify in a public hearing tomorrow regarding the Russia investigation amid reports that he had additional contact with Russian officials that were previously not disclosed:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify in an open hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, according to the committee’s leaders.
Sessions will be testifying before Congress for the first time since he was confirmed as attorney general in February. In light of former FBI director James B. Comey’s testimony last week, Sessions is expected to get questions from lawmakers about his contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 election campaign.
Comey said last week that the bureau had information about Sessions — before he recused himself from overseeing the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election — that would have made it “problematic” for him to be involved in the probe. The former director did not elaborate in public on the nature of the information.
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Sessions requested that the committee hearing be public.
“He believes it is important for the American people to hear the truth directly from him and looks forward to answering the committee’s questions tomorrow,” Flores said.
The hearing will be held Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
Sessions, who had agreed to testify this week before the Senate and House appropriations subcommittees about the Justice Department budget, wrote the chairmen of the committees Saturday and said he was sending his deputy to testify instead. He asked to testify instead before the Senate Intelligence Committee, but it had been unclear whether that hearing would be open to the public.
To accommodate schedules, the hearing will be held at the normal time that the Senate intelligence panel meets each Tuesday.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Sessions negotiated details of the hearing directly, according to aides familiar with their talks. While the hearing will be held in public, there has been no time scheduled — at least as of Monday morning — for Sessions to stick around and testify in a closed hearing to discuss classified matters, according to those aides, who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The Washington Post’s Amber Phillips keys in on why Session’s testimony could be important for Trump. In short, though, the answer is that Sessions testimony could provide insight into the relationship between Trump campaign official and Russian officials and the circumstances behind the firing of former F.B.I. Director James Comey. As with Comey’s testimony, this could make for some more interesting testimony.
