(Begin transcript)
Jeffries: Uh, Mr. Sessions, I have a copy of the transcript of your testimony before the Senate judiciary committee in October. You stated under oath “I don’t recall” in some form or fashion some 29 times. Is that correct?
Sessions: I have no idea.
Jeffries: I have a copy of the transcript of your testimony before the Senate intelligence committee in June. You stated under oath “I don’t recall” in some form or fashion approximately 36 times. Is that correct?
Sessions: I don’t know.
Jeffries: In your testimony today, you have said “I don’t recall” at least 20 times. Is that fair to say?
Sessions: I have no idea.
Jeffries: Now, on October 4 2016, during a TV interview with Lou Dobbs, you criticized Hillary Clinton for telling FBI investigators “I can’t remember” approximately 35 times. You also stated during that Lou Dobbs interview that the intentional failure to remember can constitute perjury. Mr. Attorney General, do you still believe that the intentional failure to remember can constitute a criminal act?
Sessions: If it’s, uh, a, uh, act to deceive, yes.
Jeffries: K. Now you testified in January that you had no contact with Russian operatives during the Trump campaign. Earlier today, you testified that your story has, quote, “never changed.” Is that correct?
Sessions: (no response)
Jeffries: That was your testimony earlier today? That your story has never changed. Correct?
Sessions: I believe that’s, um, fair to say. We might-
Jeffries: (talking over) Okay-
Sessions: (talking over) -get, ehh, uh, we’ve added things that I did not recall at the time.
Jeffries: Right, but I’m not-
Sessions: (talking over) But my statement at the time was my best recollection of the circumstances, and, uh, I, as things are brought up, uh-
Jeffries: Reclaiming my time. I understand.
Sessions: All right.
Jeffries: Sir, you now acknowledge, uh, meeting with Ambassador Kislyak during the Republican National Convention. Correct?
Sessions: I remember I made a speech, he came up to me afterwards I was standing in front of the speaker (unintelligble) and, uh, did chat with him-
Jeffries: (talking over) Okay, thank you, and you also-
Sessions: (talking over) (unintelligible) not a meeting, it was just, uh, an, uh, encounter at that time.
Jeffries: Okay, and you also, uh, met with the ambassador in September of 2016 in your office as you’ve acknowledged. Correct?
Sessions: (talking over) Yes, for an appointment. I had two senior staffers, both full Colonels in United States Army, retired, in, in the meeting-
Jeffries: (talking over) Now you testified- I’m sorry. You testified in June before the Senate intelligence committee that you had not heard even a whisper about possible Russian involvement in the Trump campaign. Yet we understand you attended this March 31, uh, meeting with George Papadopoulos, talked about potential communications with Russian operatives, uh, but also, according to your third quarter 2016 FTC filing, you hosted a Trump campaign dinner meeting on June 30 2016 at the Capitol Hill Club, is that right?
Sessions: That’s correct. I was-
Jeffries: (talking over) And your Senate reelection campaign paid for that meeting, is that right?
Sessions: Uh, I, I think that may be so.
Jeffries: Okay, and Carter Page and George Papadopoulos both attended that June 30 meeting, correct?
Sessions: (hesitates) That has been reported.
Jeffries: And at that meeting, Carter Page told you that the- that he was going to Moscow in a few days, is that right?
Sessions: (hesitates) Yes.
Jeffries: Okay. At-
Sessions: (talking over) Uh, um, and he, um-
Jeffries: (talking over) Thank you, thank you-
Sessions: (talking over) He said it was a brief meeting as he was walking out the door, I don’t recall that conversation, but, uh, I’m not able to dispute it, and-
Jeffries: Understood. Reclaiming my time, I’ve got limited, uh, time available-
Sessions: (talking over) That is not, uh, did that establish a, uh, some sort of improper contact with Russians?
Jeffries: (talking over) I think you understand, I think you understand that-
Sessions: (talking over) He’s not Russian either, you know.
Jeffries: (talking over) You understand, sir, I get to ask the questions, you provide the answers. In this capacity you’re no longer in the United States Senate. Uh, you voted in 1999 to remove Bill Clinton from office on charges of perjury, correct?
Sessions: That is correct.
Jeffries: And connected-
Sessions: (talking over) Uh, there were other charges, I’m, I voted for impeachment, yes.
Jeffries: (talking over) Simple- Simple question. Yes, I understand. To remove him, actually; impeachment’s in the House. In connection with that vote to remove President Clinton from office, you gave this speech on the Senate floor on February 29, 1999, and in it, you acknowledge, uh, that while serving as U.S. Attorney, you once prosecuted a young police officer who lied in a deposition. And in that speech, you decided to prosecute that young police officer even though he corrected his testimony. Now you’ve testified under oath before the Senate judiciary committee in January. You subsequently corrected that testimony in a March 6 written submission, and have been forced repeatedly to come back to the Senate and now the House to clarify. When explaining your vote on the Senate floor to remove Bill Clinton from office, you stated that you refuse to hold a President accountable to a different standard than the young police officer who you prosecuted. Let me be clear: The Attorney General of the United States of America should not be held to a different standard than the young police officer whose life you ruined by prosecuting him for perjury. I yield back.
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