While I believe nothing likely happened, this needs to be done so that a proper investigation can occur.
Jeff Sessions Lied Under Oath - Had Contact w/ Russian Ambassador
- Thread starter bqknight
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The fact that he recused himself without resigning also suggests he and the administration feel pretty confident he did nothing wrong . We shall see
He hasn't recused himself yet. That Hill tweet was a bit misleading. He;s said he's "willing to recuse himself, if it becomes appropriate" or something to that effect.
but would he have opened himself up to recuse if the media didn't release this? Would Flynn have been dismissed if the journalist didn't uncover his lies? What about Manafort? We rely on journalist and investigative reporting to be our watchdog for stuff like this. Blanketing all media as "fake news" is a very slippery slope for us as a democracy.
For 8 years quite a bit of conservative pundits made millions on a witch hunt of Obamas term. our current president lead the charge in terms of the birther movement witch hunt!
yes there is a bit of a witch hunt going on, but just like the DNC leaks there would be nothing to report if trump and his appointees didn't have scandal after scandal. The DNC leaks couldn't have existed if the DNC acted above board and to the standard we should hold our politicians to.
Well it's on Congress to ask the question, not for the interviewee to willfully disclose information that was not asked. Especially given the fervor at the time surrounding Russian election tampering. I disagree it would blow over. Any answer that says I spoke to a Russian diplomat, even for legitimate reasons, will create a headline that next morning, "AG pick has Russian connections".
Put yourself in a similar situation, are you going to disclose potentially damaging information if they don't ask? I wouldn't.
Whether he lied and the degree to which he did will come out in the investigation. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions, but he should be gone if impropriety occurred.
I want my AG to be upfront and honest about all aspects of his career. If we can't trust that he isn't hiding anything then how can we trust him to be the top law enforcement official?
This isn't an average job interview, its an interview to be Attorney General of the United States of America. Knowingly hiding or misrepresenting facts should be looked at with extreme prejudice whether he is a republican appointee or democrat.
BTW he was asked about conversations and he lied in his answer. Lets be clear, talking with russian officials is not illegal, however lying about it to congress under oath is. Also not being candid in a job interview is also not becoming of an AG. If he hid it because he was worried about political repercussions then that is even worse.
He won't resign. He won't be found guilty of anything. Lame attempt to connect him to something that just wasn't there in the first place.
Democrats obsession with "The Russians did it" is getting old .... and stupid. The fact that the Democrats actually PRETEND that they care so much about this is laughable. They only care that a sitting senator may or may not have talked to a Russian guy once or twice because they will count it as a WIN if they get the guy to resign. That's it. Nobody really gives a crap otherwise. Even if the Democrats get a WIN, Trump will just nominate a new conservative guy, who will get confirmed 51-49 like the rest, and continue to do all of the same stuff Sessions was going to do anyway.
It's a non-story to normal folks. It's only a story to people that hate Trump and want to see him lose something.
Democrats obsession with "The Russians did it" is getting old .... and stupid. The fact that the Democrats actually PRETEND that they care so much about this is laughable. They only care that a sitting senator may or may not have talked to a Russian guy once or twice because they will count it as a WIN if they get the guy to resign. That's it. Nobody really gives a crap otherwise. Even if the Democrats get a WIN, Trump will just nominate a new conservative guy, who will get confirmed 51-49 like the rest, and continue to do all of the same stuff Sessions was going to do anyway.
It's a non-story to normal folks. It's only a story to people that hate Trump and want to see him lose something.
true for some I am sure.
Simply dismissing it as dems crying over a lost election is another. Are you saying he didn't lie to congress? There are dozens of republican congressman speaking out this morning about this as well. Are they just crying over a lost election too?
He won't resign and should not unless actual proof comes out that he was involved with the Russian government and the hacking which I assume would have come out already. He needs to stay in his job and do his job.
I'm laughing at all the liberals here all of a sudden wanting ethics Washington politics. Where were you for the past eight years?
The investigations are just getting started. I'm not going to say there is absolutely something here 100% but the odds are in favor there is. The whole thing stinks of improper conduct. Manafort, Flynn, Sessions, Trumps attorneys all speaking to the Russians even during the campaign.
The fish rots from the head down.
Are you purposefully ignoring my post about Holder being 10x the POS that Sessions is, or can you just not read?
Who is claiming he is involved in Russian election hacking? As usual u change the argument.
He lied under oath. Period. If he were doing his job he should probably take a look in the mirror and see that he is unfit for the position based on him lying to congress under oath.
As for Senate Armed Services Committee Members regularly meeting with Russia:
ummm...seems like Sessions was really the only one...
"The Washington Post contacted all 26 members of the 2016 Senate Armed Services Committee to see whether any lawmakers besides Sessions met with Kislyak in 2016. Of the 20 lawmakers who responded, every senator, including Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), said they did not meet with the Russian ambassador last year. The other lawmakers on the panel did not respond as of Wednesday evening.
“Members of the committee have not been beating a path to Kislyak’s door,” a senior Senate Armed Services Committee staffer said, citing tensions in relations with Moscow. Besides Sessions, the staffer added, “There haven’t been a ton of members who are looking to meet with Kislyak for their committee duties.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...no-name:homepage/story&utm_term=.ff4a7c9d6607
ummm...seems like Sessions was really the only one...
"The Washington Post contacted all 26 members of the 2016 Senate Armed Services Committee to see whether any lawmakers besides Sessions met with Kislyak in 2016. Of the 20 lawmakers who responded, every senator, including Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), said they did not meet with the Russian ambassador last year. The other lawmakers on the panel did not respond as of Wednesday evening.
“Members of the committee have not been beating a path to Kislyak’s door,” a senior Senate Armed Services Committee staffer said, citing tensions in relations with Moscow. Besides Sessions, the staffer added, “There haven’t been a ton of members who are looking to meet with Kislyak for their committee duties.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...no-name:homepage/story&utm_term=.ff4a7c9d6607
I seem to recall you were one who wanted ethics in politics the past 8 years, but now you're all of a sudden willing to excuse them?
You're posting as if it's a certainty that he lied. Both questions about Russia refer to the campaign.
"If there was any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what would you do?" Answer:"I'm not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians."
He said he worked for the campaign a time or two and did not have communication with Russia in that capacity.
"Several of the President-elect's nominees or senior advisors have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?" Answer: "No".
If they wanted to know whether he had contact with a Russian in the last year, they should have asked. But they didn't.
I agree with you about wanting an upfront AG but he's a lawyer and that's how you answer questions in a hearing. Give precise answers to questions and nothing more unless asked.
Actually you are wrong, the investigations have been going on for six months. There is no proof and if there were, it would have leaked out long ago.
I can tell you are just a reactionary. Show me where he lied under oath, it is the Bill Clinton define what is, is. He was asked a question and it was on Franken to ask it a more detailed way, which was not done.
Unlike you and the rest of the liberals I have always wanted ethics in Washington. The difference between me and unethical people like yourself is I want proof before I call for someone to lose their job. Proof like the IRS going after American citizens that had different political beliefs then the President and the AG. Proof that the Obama administration used American public monies to interfere in the Israeli elections. Proof that the Obama Administration had talks outside the other UN countries negotiating between the US and Iran for the Iran deal. Proof that the Obama Administration actually paid ransom monies to Iran. Proof that Banghazi was not sparked by a movie. And so on and so on and each and every one of these were impeachable offenses that the AG refused to investigate.
I'm not a liberal, sir. I'm also ethical. Like you, I wanted this stuff prosecuted. I also have not called for Sessions to resign. However, just even on the basic surface of this investigation, "lies" to congress or not, Sessions was part of the campaign and therefore should recuse himself from this investigation.
Quit calling anyone who disagrees with you a liberal. You're simply wrong in my case.
Right on. Commuter consistently showing himself to be a voice of reason around here.
Yet 30 Senate democrats met with Russian Officials during the Iran meeting, go figure.
I also am not calling for him to resign. Now if more damning details come out that he purposely lied or intentionally misled that changes things.
But right now the optics are bad for Sessions. Big Trump supporter who as of right now was the only senator on the committee to meet with the Russian ambassador during a nasty campaign cycle in which the Intel agencies agree that Russian activity was all around it.
The American ppl deserve an independent investigation into Trump admin/ Russian ties. If they're innocent an independent investigation will prove it. But an independent investigation cannot take place with Sessions at the helm given what we know now so he needs to recuse himself. The growing Republican support of this shows that.
But right now the optics are bad for Sessions. Big Trump supporter who as of right now was the only senator on the committee to meet with the Russian ambassador during a nasty campaign cycle in which the Intel agencies agree that Russian activity was all around it.
The American ppl deserve an independent investigation into Trump admin/ Russian ties. If they're innocent an independent investigation will prove it. But an independent investigation cannot take place with Sessions at the helm given what we know now so he needs to recuse himself. The growing Republican support of this shows that.
if those 30 dems had denied it while meeting before congress to be confirmed as AG then lets talk about it. Otherwise you're just grasping at straws.
There's a difference between a multilateral meeting with many diplomats where the topic is known versus a one on one where the topic isn't known. But Sessions had the meeting with the Russian diplomat on his public calendar. If it was nefarious in nature he did a terrible job hiding it.
to be clear meeting with russia is not illegal nor the issue here. Not being candid with congress during AG job interview is.
not to mention there is a major difference between an international delegation and an isolated one-on-one meeting. Not that any meetings are improper or discussing subversive topics, but this is such a huge strawman, as are most "but look at what _____ did" arguments.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a58c...has-total-confidence-jeff-sessions-amid-calls
Trump says Sessions is not going anywhere
Trump says Sessions is not going anywhere
He didn't. He carefully worded his answer to be truthful.
I agree with your second post about an investigation into the Russian claims. They need to get to the bottom of it so we can move on.
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