3 Takeaways From Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Testimony

WASHINGTON, DC — Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified on Tuesday in front of the House Judiciary Committee in a wide-ranging hearing that touched on topics including the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and the Senate race to fill his vacated seat.

Here are three key takeaways from his testimony:

Sessions Says He Never Lied About Russia Contacts

In his testimony, Sessions maintained that he did not lie under oath about the Trump campaign’s alleged connections to Russia.

Sessions said in October that he did not know of anyone in the Trump campaign who had conversations with Russian surrogates. It was later revealed in court documents, however, that Sessions met with campaign aide George Papadopoulos, who discussed his Russian contacts and suggested a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sessions said on Tuesday he did not remember the specifics of the meeting with Papadopoulos, but that he did remember shooting down the proposal of Trump meeting with Putin.

He Appears To Reject Special Counsel In Dossier Investigation

Under questioning from GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Sessions cooled theories that a special counsel should be appointed to investigate alleged collusion between the federal government and the Democratic National Committee in regard to the salacious Trump dossier.

Jordan said of the dossier Tuesday: “We know the Clinton campaign and the [Democratic] National Committee paid for — through the law firm — paid for the dossier. We know that happened. And it sure looks like the FBI was paying the author of that document. And it sure looks like a major political party was working with the federal government to then turn an opposition research document that quoted some National Enquirer story into an intelligence document, take that to the FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] court so that they could then get a warrant to spy on Americans associated with President Trump's campaign. That's what it looks like.”

Sessions responded that, “'looks like' is not enough basis to appoint a special counsel.”

The idea that Sessions might appoint a special counsel to investigate the dossier gained traction on Tuesday morning after The Washington Post reported that a Justice Department letter shows Sessions was entertaining the option.

His statements at Tuesday’s hearing, however, appear to contradict that notion.

Sessions Breaks From Roy Moore

Sessions said he has “no reason to doubt” the woman who have accused Roy Moore of sexual misconduct. Moore is the GOP nominee for Sessions’ vacated Senate seat in Alabama. Five women have come forward to accuse Moore of sexual misconduct, including one who said he sexually assaulted her when he was in his 30s and she was 14. Another accuser said Moore groped her in a car when she was 16.

Moore has vehemently denied the accusations.

A growing number of national GOP leaders have called on Moore to drop out of the race, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Photo credit: Alex Brandon/Associated Press