On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions stated, “we are having a lot of leaks today in Washington, that I do believe are troubling. A lot of it would appear to be in violation of the law, and it’s an unhealthy trend, and we’ve got to do better about it.”
Sessions also said he never considered amending his statement to the Senate about his meetings with Russia’s ambassador before now, and commented on his decision to recuse himself from any investigations pertaining to the Trump campaign by stating, “we had a full meeting some — a week or so ago, and planned to have a meeting today. It was on our schedule to make a final decision about whether or not I should recuse myself. And the reason I believed I should recuse myself is because I was involved in the campaign.”
Sessions was asked why, in the wake of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s resignation, he didn’t amend his statement to the Senate about his meetings with the Russians. He responded that his answer was an honest one given in response to a specific question about whether he met with Russians on a continuing basis to advance the Trump campaign’s agenda. After host Tucker Carlson followed up as to why he didn’t just clarify his statement to avoid a problem similar to Flynn’s, Sessions stated, “I never gave that a thought. I never considered it. I don’t believe anyone ever mentioned that to me.” He later said that he would amend the record as to his testimony.
Sessions later stated that he didn’t recall “any discussion of the campaign” with the Russian ambassador “in any significant way.” He added, “It was in no way some sort of coordinating of an effort, doing anything improper. And I don’t believe anybody that was in that meeting would have seen or believed I said one thing that was improper or unwise.”
Sessions also commented on his recusal by saying that a recusal isn’t an admission of wrongdoing and that after he became Attorney General, “we met with professional staff, ethics people, to discuss this issue, and we had a full meeting some — a week or so ago, and planned to have a meeting today. It was on our schedule to make a final decision about whether or not I should recuse myself. And the reason I believed I should recuse myself is because I was involved in the campaign.”
Sessions further commented on the scope of the recusal, stating that “If something else comes up that’s not related to the campaign, we would go through the same process, as I committed to the Senate, and that I have done, and that is to see if there’s a reason I should not be involved in the case.”
When asked if he thought Russia favored Trump, Sessions stated he didn’t know, and you would have to ask them. He further said that he thinks the truth will come out as to whether Russia influenced the election.
Sessions later said, “Well, we are having a lot of leaks today in Washington, that I do believe are troubling. A lot of it would appear to be in violation of the law, and it’s an unhealthy trend, and we’ve got to do better about it. I do believe every department needs to take a greater interest in maintaining proper security.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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