Alabama’s senators stand by Jeff Sessions amid Russia criticism
Alabama’s senior U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby offered public support to his former colleague turned Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, on Thursday following reports the former Alabama senator intentionally misled his colleagues during his confirmation hearings about about meeting with the Russian ambassador. “This afternoon I watched Attorney General Sessions’ press conference where he thoroughly explained his responses to the Judiciary Committee,” said Shelby. “As I have said before, I hold Jeff’s integrity in the highest regard and his action solidifies my respect for his leadership.” Shelby, a Republican said he believed Sessions committed no wrongdoing. “I firmly believe that Jeff has committed no wrongdoing and his statement today proves as much. Attorney General Sessions’ decision to recuse himself was wise, and I fully support him,” Shelby concluded. Luther Strange, Alabama’s newly minted senator who filled Sessions vacant seat, echoed Shelby’s support saying the attacks against Sessions are baseless. “Today’s attacks are ugly, and they are entirely baseless,” Strange said in a statement. “Here are the facts: Jeff Sessions has a proven record as a national security watchdog who is tough on Russia. As every Democrat who is criticizing Jeff Sessions knows, meetings between Senators and foreign ambassadors happen nearly every day – they are part of the job, especially for a senior member of the Armed Services Committee.” West Virginia-Democrat U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin went on record Thursday saying he too has met with Russian ambassadors, saying that meetings were “not unusual.” Manchin added it’s typical for senators to “meet with all the ambassadors” to establish a relationship with them and “know where in the world people are coming from.” A ForeignPolicy.com reporter Tweeted Thursday that over 30 Senate Democrats had also met with Russian diplomats. Strange now hopes other Democrats will see their hypocrisy and leave Sessions alone in order to get back to the people’s work. “I am calling on Congressional Democrats to stop this witch hunt and join Republicans in the business of doing what the American people sent us here for – fixing our economy, securing our border, and strengthening our national security,” Strange concluded.
Questions and answers about perjury, Jeff Sessions’ statements
Attorney General Jeff Sessions agreed Thursday to recuse himself from any investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The move came after revelations that Sessions twice spoke with the Russian ambassador during the campaign, a fact that seemingly contradicts sworn statements he made to Congress during his confirmation hearings. Sessions rejected any suggestion that he tried to mislead anyone about his contacts with the Russian, but added that he “should have slowed down and said ‘but I did meet with one Russian official a couple of times.’” Some Democrats demanded an investigation into whether Sessions committed perjury. But perjury is difficult to prove, and experts say Sessions would have a good defense if he needed one. Some questions and answers about the allegations: ___ IS THIS A CASE OF PERJURY? That’s tough to say. Such a case would likely come down to splitting hairs over what Sessions said under oath, what he believed he was saying, and what he believed he was being asked. During Sessions’ confirmation hearing in January, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., asked the then-Alabama senator what he would do if evidence emerged that anyone from the Trump campaign had been in touch with the Russian government during the 2016 race. Sessions replied he was “not aware of any of those activities” and that he himself, sometimes called a campaign surrogate, “did not have communications with the Russians.” Franken on Thursday said Sessions’ response to his query was “at best, misleading.” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California accused him of “lying under oath.” House Judiciary Committee Democrats sent a letter to FBI Director James Comey calling for a criminal investigation. Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Sessions’ answer was not misleading because he believed he was being asked about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign, not about those he had as a senator. The disagreement underscores the difficulty in proving someone has committed perjury. Prosecutors must show not only that a person spoke falsely but that he intended to be misleading about an indisputable fact. Sessions said Thursday said he didn’t mean to mislead lawmakers. “That is not my intent,” he said. “That is not correct.” Sessions could reasonably argue he thought he was being asked about his campaign-related contacts as opposed to congressional or diplomatic contacts, said Benjamin Wittes, a senior Brookings Institution fellow. “He may have just screwed up,” said Wittes. “It’s not a crime to be wrong under oath.” An ambiguous question can kill a perjury case, which is why so few materialize from testimony given before Congress. Lawmakers “are not the most precise questioners. It’s not like a deposition or grand jury, where a professional prosecutor is asking the questions,” said Stanley Brand, a Washington attorney and former House general counsel. “Inartful questions and elusive answers. You have to pursue those.” But, as Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer pointed out, Sessions could have corrected the record in the weeks after his confirmation hearing. Sessions said Thursday he would be sending the Senate Judiciary Committee a letter doing that. ___ COULD HE BE CHARGED WITH MAKING ‘FALSE STATEMENTS’? Sen. Patrick Leahy, the senior Judiciary Committee Democrat, asked Sessions in a written questionnaire whether “he had been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after Election Day.” Sessions replied with one word: “No.” That statement could be examined under a separate “false statements” statute, which differs from perjury in that it applies to statements that are not made under oath. But prosecutors would still have to prove Sessions knowingly and willfully gave a misleading answer. ___ WHAT HAS SESSIONS HIMSELF SAID ABOUT PERJURY? The House impeached Bill Clinton after he had been accused of lying to a grand jury about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. As a senator Sessions voted for conviction on a count of perjury and a count of obstruction. Clinton was acquitted. “It is crucial to our system of justice that we demand the truth,” Sessions said after Clinton’s acquittal in 1999. “I fear that an acquittal of this president will weaken the legal system by providing an option for those who consider being less than truthful in court. Whereas the handling of the case against President Nixon clearly strengthened the nation’s respect for law, justice and truth, the Clinton impeachment may unfortunately have the opposite result.” ___ WHAT ARE SOME OTHER RECENT CASES? Republicans asked for a perjury investigation of Hillary Clinton for telling Congress there was nothing in her private email marked classified. That was not accurate, but FBI Director James Comey said it was “possible that she didn’t understand what a ‘C’ meant when she saw it in the body of the email like that,” which would hurt a perjury case. The Justice Department in 2013 rejected Republican suggestions that Attorney General Eric Holder committed perjury when he told Congress he had never been involved in a potential prosecution of the news media. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Bill giving police access to cellphone location data passes Alabama House
The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill requiring wireless companies in the state to hand over location data to law enforcement agencies upon request, in an emergency situation involving a risk of death or serious bodily harm. Scottsboro-Republican state Rep. Tommy Hanes introduced HB5: the Kelsey Smith Act, which passed 95-0. The legislation is named after Smith, a Kansas teen who was abducted in broad daylight in the parking lot of a Target store and ultimately raped and murdered in June 2007. It was four days between the time she disappeared to the time her cell phone location information was released, and her body was found by the police. The states that have the system in place already have reported several “saves,” where people that have been saved from the use of the law. The Kelsey Smith Act is currently law in 22 other states across the country. Kansas: April 17, 2009 New Jersey: January 29, 2010 Nebraska: March 17, 2010 Minnesota: May 13, 2010 New Hampshire: July 13, 2010 North Dakota: April 8, 2011 Tennessee: April 26, 2012 Hawaii: April 30, 2012 Missouri: July 6, 2012 Pennsylvania: October 22, 2014 Utah: March 27, 2013 West Virginia: April 12, 2013 Colorado: May 13, 2013 Nevada: May 23, 2013 Rhode Island: July 15, 2013 Oregon: March 6, 2014 Arkansas: March 13, 2015 Iowa: May 1, 2015 Washington: May 7, 2015 Louisiana: June 23, 2015 Delaware: August 7, 2015 Indiana: March 21, 2016 The bill next goes to the Alabama Senate for debate.
GOP, Dem foes of health care bill in scavenger hunt for copy
Where’s the Republicans’ embryonic health care bill? A maverick GOP senator and top Democrats staged made-for-TV scavenger hunts across the Capitol on Thursday for a draft of the measure, momentarily overshadowing months of labor by Republicans out to reshape the nation’s health care system. Their goal: embarrass Republican leaders who have vowed to make the overhaul transparent and are struggling to solidify support. “It’s the secret office for the secret bill,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., proclaimed to reporters after being denied entry to the ground floor room where he said the measure was being shown to some lawmakers. An aide to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., later said Paul was standing outside her office, not a hideaway for clandestine legislation. With Republican leaders hoping to unveil the legislation next week, part of the measure is being shown privately to GOP lawmakers without distributing copies. Party leaders often closely hold major bills while striking final compromises, but this was an unusually stealthy move aimed at preventing leaks of the measure, which would replace much of former President Barack Obama‘s health care overhaul with Republican proposals. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., who is letting panel Republicans see his portion of the measure, issued a statement that flashed his pique. He said assertions his committee “is doing anything other than the regular process of keeping its members up to speed on latest developments in its jurisdictions are false.” Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, whose House Ways and Means Committee is writing other provisions, noted he and Walden had briefed senators including Paul on Wednesday. “Clearly every senator in that room knows exactly the direction we’re going,” Brady told reporters. The secrecy surrounding the House draft presented a golden publicity opportunity to Paul, who like some other conservatives says the GOP plan doesn’t go far enough in dismantling Obama’s law. “This is being presented as if this were a national secret, as if this were a plot to invade another country,” Paul told camera crews and reporters his office had alerted to his quest. In an interview this week with NBC’s “Today” show, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Republican leaders were “not hatching some bill in a backroom and plopping it on the American people’s front door.” Also launching pursuit were No. 2 House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland and other Democrats, who rummaged through the Capitol and a nearby House office building. Parts of their expeditions were streamed on social media. At one point, Reps. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., were turned away from the offices of Walden and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., claimed to have checked the men’s room. “They don’t want us to see the bill,” said Pallone. Thursday’s histrionics came as Ryan and other GOP leaders try delivering on one of their and President Donald Trump’s top political priorities, despite lingering disputes. At a closed-door conference, Ryan told Republicans that leaders would draft the overhaul legislation this weekend. Lawmakers have said the goal is for the two House committees to vote next week in hopes of pushing the legislation through the House and to the Senate before an early April recess. One conservative foe, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said leaders pushed lawmakers hard Thursday to back the bill. He said leaders showed clips of Trump’s congressional address on Tuesday, when he embraced key principles of the GOP plan. This was “very unconvincing,” said Massie. One of the most contentious remaining disputes is a new tax sought by Ryan on part of the value of expensive employer-provided medical plans. Many Republicans are reluctant to vote for a tax increase — a reliable way to invite challengers in primary elections. Many conservatives oppose a proposed tax credit that would be even for people who owe no taxes and is based on age, not income. Brady said he’s considering whether to “target” the credit, but didn’t say how. Obama’s law expanded Medicaid to more lower-income people, a move that 31 states accepted, along with billions in added federal payments to cover it. The GOP plan would provide money for those states and for the 19 states, mostly run by Republicans, that didn’t expand Medicaid. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Appeal filed in lawsuit over Alabama minimum wage law
Civil rights groups are appealing a federal judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging an Alabama law that blocked the city of Birmingham’s plans to raise the minimum hourly wage to $10.10. Last month, U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Alabama Chapter of the NAACP and Greater Birmingham Ministries on behalf of minimum wage workers. The groups claimed Alabama unconstitutionally targeted minorities by enacting a law that blocked the majority-black city’s local minimum wage hike. Proctor made his decision saying the racial claims were not valid because the policy is statewide, not just in Birmingham. “On its very face, the Act applies statewide, prohibiting ‘[a]ny [local] ordinance, policy, rule, or other mandate’ that is inconsistent with its prescribed, uniform minimum wage,” Proctor explained in his dismissal. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed an appeal Thursday to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Alabama Today’s attempts to reach the Alabama NAACP and Greater Birmingham Ministries on Thursday were unsuccessful.
Paul Ryan tells GOP health bill to be drafted this weekend
Legislation to revamp the nation’s health care system is being drafted this weekend. That’s according to Colorado congressman Mike Coffman, who says House Speaker Paul Ryan has told GOP colleagues that leaders will draft the legislation this weekend. Coffman described Ryan’s remarks after Republicans met privately Thursday to discuss replacing former President Barack Obama‘s health care law with their own programs. Several Republicans say leaders want the House to approve legislation in the next few weeks. The hope is to give the Senate time to consider the bill before Congress takes a spring break in early April. Lawmakers have said House committees could have initial votes on legislation as early as next week. Republicans remain divided over key issues, including a proposed new tax on some employer-provided health plans. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Donald Trump says no reason for Jeff Sessions to leave Russia probe
A growing number of Republicans joined Democratic leaders Thursday in calling for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to step aside from an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 White House election. President Donald Trump said there was no need and he retains “total” confidence in Sessions. Top Democrats demanded that Sessions go further than merely stepping aside from any investigations. They’re calling for him to resign as the nation’s top law enforcement officer after the revelation that he had twice talked with Moscow’s U.S. envoy during the presidential campaign. Sessions’ conversations with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak seem to contradict his sworn statements to Congress during his confirmation hearings. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi accused Sessions of “lying under oath,” and she and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he should depart. Schumer said the Justice Department should appoint a special prosecutor to examine whether the federal investigation into the Kremlin’s meddling in the U.S. election has been compromised by Sessions. “If there was nothing wrong, why don’t you just tell the truth?” Schumer said of sessions. “It was definitely extremely misleading to say the least” “I have said that, when it’s appropriate, I will recuse myself” from the investigation, Sessions told MSNBC on Thursday. Trump, asked if Sessions should recuse himself, said Thursday, “I don’t think so.” He was questioned in Newport News, Virginia, where he was speaking aboard a new aircraft carrier. While there is nothing unusual or necessarily nefarious about a member of Congress meeting with a foreign ambassador, senators from the Foreign Relations Committee typically meet with ambassadors rather than lawmakers from the Armed Services Committee, whose responsibility is oversight of the military and the Pentagon. Congressional contact with Russian officials was limited for much of last year because of Russia’s invasion of Crimea and Moscow’s close relationship with Syria, a pariah for much of the West. At least three House Republicans — Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, Darrell Issa of California and Tom Cole of Oklahoma — have said they want Sessions to withdraw from investigation of campaign contacts with the Russians. And GOP Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio said that while Sessions was a former colleague and a friend, “I think it would be best for him and for the country to recuse himself.” The attorney general “is going to need to recuse himself at this point,” Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told MSNBC. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif, said he thought Sessions “needs to clarify what these meetings were.” He said it isn’t unusual for members of Congress to meet with ambassadors, but he added that if a question arose about the integrity of a federal investigation, “I think it’d be easier” for an attorney general to step away. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sessions should only recuse himself if he is a subject of the probe. Sessions, an early supporter of Trump’s candidacy and a policy adviser during the campaign, was asked during his confirmation hearing in January what he would do if “anyone affiliated” with the campaign had been in contact with officials of the Russian government. Sessions replied that he had not had communications with the Russians, and answered “no” in a separate written questionnaire when asked about contacts regarding the election. In a statement late Wednesday, he said: “I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the disclosure of the talks with Kislyak “the latest attack against the Trump administration by partisan Democrats.” She said Sessions “met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony.” Sessions had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors last year in his role as a U.S. senator and senior member of the Armed Services Committee, and had two separate interactions with Kislyak, the department confirmed. One was a visit in September in his capacity as a senator, similar to meetings with envoys from Britain, China, Germany and other nations, the department said. The other occurred in a group setting following a Heritage Foundation speech that Sessions gave during the Republican National Convention, when several ambassadors — including the Russian — approached him after the talk as he was leaving the stage, according to the department. Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said he did not know about the meetings but it was normal for Russian diplomats to meet with U.S. lawmakers. Likewise, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, told AP that meetings with American political figures were part of the embassy’s “everyday business.” Revelations of the contacts, first reported by The Washington Post, came amid a disclosure by three administration officials that White House lawyers have instructed aides to Trump to preserve materials that could be connected to Russian meddling in the American political process. The officials who confirmed that staffers were instructed to comply with preservation-of-materials directions did so on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly disclose the memo from White House counsel Don McGahn. At the confirmation hearing in January, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., asked Sessions about campaign contacts. “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn’t have, did not have communications with the Russians, and I’m unable to comment on it.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Donald Trump, aboard Navy carrier, vows to boost defense spending
President Donald Trump pledged to boost defense spending as he basked in the nation’s military might aboard a next-generation Naval aircraft carrier on Thursday. Wearing an olive green military jacket and blue ball cap, Trump vowed to mount “one of the largest” defense spending increases in history. “Hopefully it’s power we don’t have to use, but if we do, they’re in big, big trouble,” Trump said. Trump spoke from the Gerald R. Ford, a $12.9 billion warship that is expected to be commissioned this year after cost overruns and delays. He touted his spending plans, saying he would provide “the finest equipment in the world” and give the military the “tools you need to prevent war.” The president also toured the carrier and met with sailors and military leaders. He saluted the sailors as he arrived on the carrier. Before his remarks, Trump was asked about the revelation that Attorney General Jeff Sessions twice talked with Moscow’s U.S. envoy during the campaign, contact that seems to contradict Sessions’ sworn statements to Congress during his confirmation hearings. While there were mounting calls for Sessions to resign or recuse himself, Trump stood by Sessions on Thursday, saying he had “total” confidence in his attorney general. Asked if Sessions should recuse himself, Trump said: “I don’t think so.” Trump also said he “wasn’t aware” that Sessions had spoken to Russia and said that he “probably did” speak truthfully to the Senate. During his trip to Newport News, Trump was joined aboard Air Force One by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. A draft budget plan released earlier this week by the White House would add $54 billion to the Pentagon’s projected budget, a 10 percent increase. The U.S. currently spends more than half trillion dollars on defense, more than the next seven countries combined. “To keep America safe, we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war,” Trump said in his address to Congress on Tuesday night. Trump, in his 2016 campaign, repeatedly pledged to rebuild what he called the nation’s “depleted” military and told supporters at Regent University in Virginia Beach in October that the region’s naval installations would be “right at the center of the action with the building of new ships.” He often argued that the U.S. military is too small to accomplish its missions and pledged to put the Navy on track to increase its active-duty fleet to 350 ships, compared to the current Navy plan of growing from 272 ships to 308 sometime after 2020. The PCU Gerald R. Ford CVN 78, located at Newport News Shipbuilding, will be the first of the Navy’s next generation of aircraft carriers and is expected to accommodate some 2,600 sailors. Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress, his first as president, included his past calls for repealing the “defense sequester,” or across-the-board budget cuts instituted by Congress. He will need the repeal to achieve the kinds of increased defense spending that he is seeking. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Robert Aderholt defends Jeff Sessions against allegations of improper Russian contact
Alabama 4th District U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt on Thursday defended Attorney General Jeff Sessions against allegations of improper meetings between then Senator and foreign diplomats. On Wednesday, Sessions came under fire following a Washington Post report that claimed the Alabama Republican spoke with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential campaign, then denied any meetings under oath during his confirmation hearing. “The unsubstantiated allegations about Russian coordination are becoming almost like the ‘birther’ issue of the Democratic party,” said Aderholt.“ It is not at all unusual for members of Congress to speak with ambassadors from other countries on an almost weekly basis. The fact of the matter is that Jeff Sessions is an American patriot who would not do anything to jeopardize the sanctity and security of the country he not only has served for decades, but a country he deeply loves. ” Aderholt continued, “These allegations are nothing more than a partisan smoke screen to detract from the fact Donald Trump won the election fair and square. It is like some of the Democrats counted their chickens before they were hatched and now have egg on their faces.” A Sessions spokeswoman has said the contact between Sessions and the Russian Ambassador was simply in the former senator’s capacity as a U.S. Senator and “member of the Armed Services Committee.” The White House agrees. An unnamed White House official on Thursday said Sessions had met with the ambassador in his official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The official said that is consistent with Sessions’ testimony. According to reports, Sessions reportedly spoke with Kislyak during a July Heritage Foundation event at the Republican National Convention attended by roughly 50 ambassadors from across the globe. He spoke again with Kislyak via phone in September, according to a Sessions’ spokeswoman.
More Republicans say AG Jeff Sessions should recuse himself
The Latest on Attorney General Jeff Sessions‘ talks with the Soviet ambassador (all times local): 11:25 a.m. attorneyAttorney The top House Democrat says Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath when he told the Senate Judiciary that he had no contacts with the Russian government and says he should resign. Nancy Pelosi says, “Perjury is a crime.” In the meantime, Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida joined a growing chorus of Republicans calling upon Sessions to recuse himself from any investigation on contacts between the Russians and President Donald Trump‘s campaign last year. Graham says, “Somebody other than Jeff needs to do it.” Graham also tells reporters he is meeting Thursday with FBI Director James Comey and will demand to know whether there is an investigation into the Russia contacts. ___ 10:58 a.m. A growing number of Republicans want Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian meddling in the election and ties to the Trump campaign. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman says in a statement that Sessions is a former colleague and a friend, “but I think it would be best for him and for the country to recuse himself from the DOJ Russia probe.” Portman joins congressmen Jason Chaffetz, Darrell Issa and Tom Cole in calling for Sessions to recuse himself, Other Senate Republicans are rallying around Sessions, saying they trust him and that it’s up to Sessions whether to recuse himself. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee. He says, “I trust Jeff Sessions to make that decision.” ___ 10:33 a.m. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren joins other Democrats in calling for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign. She says there should be an independent special prosecutor named to oversee an investigation of Russian interference in the U.S. election. Warren has clashed repeatedly with President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans. The Massachusetts senator reacted in a series of tweets to reports that Sessions talked twice with Russia’s ambassador during the presidential campaign, conversations that seem to contradict sworn statements Sessions gave to Congress during his confirmation hearings. The White House says Sessions met with the diplomat in his capacity as a then-U.S. senator, not a Trump campaign adviser. ___ 10:25 a.m. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign. Several Republicans and Democrats have called for Sessions to recuse himself from an investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election following the revelation he talked twice with Russia’s ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign. The conversations seem to contradict sworn statements Sessions gave to Congress during his confirmation hearings. Schumer says a special prosecutor is needed to investigate the allegations of Russian interference and also look into whether the investigation has already been compromised by Sessions. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has accused Sessions of “lying under oath” and demanded that he resign. ___ 10:25 a.m. Another congressional Republican says Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself from any investigation into Russia meddling in the election and links to the Trump campaign. In a statement, congressman Darrell Issa of California joined House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz in calling on Sessions to recuse himself now. Issa says, “We need a clear-eyed view of what the Russians actually did so that all Americans can have faith in our institutions.” It is members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who typically meet with foreign ambassadors, not Armed Services Committee lawmakers whose responsibility is oversight of the military and the Pentagon. Congressional contact with Russian officials was limited after the invasion of Crimea and due to Moscow’s close relationship with Syria, a pariah for much of the West. ___ 9:15 a.m. A Republican committee chairman says Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself from an investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election. Utah’s Jason Chaffetz chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He tells MSNBC that Sessions “is going to need to recuse himself at this point.” The Justice Department has confirmed Sessions talked twice with Russia’s ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign, a seeming contradiction to sworn statements he gave to Congress. Chaffetz told MSNBC that Sessions “should further clarify.” Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri called on Sessions to resign, and Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said he should recuse himself. ___ 8:30 a.m. A Democratic senator says Attorney General Jeff Sessions should step aside from any role in the Justice Department’s investigation of Trump campaign ties to Russia. Minnesota’s Al Franken tells MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that Sessions’ statements about his contacts with Moscow have been “contradictory.” At Session’s confirmation hearing in January, Franken asked the then-Alabama senator what he would do if there was evidence that anyone from the Trump campaign had been in touch with the Russian government during the 2016 White House race. Sessions replied he was “unaware of those activities.” But the Justice Department has confirmed that Sessions had two conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the United States. Franken is calling for an “independent prosecutor” to investigate any links the Trump campaign may have had with the Russian government and says Sessions must “come forward with the truth.” ___ 8:15 a.m. A Kremlin spokesman says all the attention given to Jeff Sessions’ meetings with Russia’s U.S. ambassador during the U.S. presidential campaign last year could affect improved ties between the countries. Sessions — who’s now President Donald Trump’s attorney general — was a senator and policy adviser to Trump’s campaign at the time of the meetings with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. Dmitry Peskov is the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Peskov tells reporters that he didn’t know about the meetings. But he says it’s normal for Russian diplomats to meet with U.S. lawmakers. The White House says Sessions met with the diplomat in his capacity as a senator, rather than as a Trump campaign adviser. Peskov is characterizing reaction to the news of the meetings as “an
Ex-Donald Trump rival Ben Carson wins Senate OK as housing chief
Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who challenged Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, won Senate confirmation Thursday to join Trump’s Cabinet as housing secretary. Six Democrats and one independent joined 51 Republicans in voting for Carson to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Carson is the 17th of 22 of Trump’s Cabinet and Cabinet-level nominations to win Senate approval. The Senate also voted 62-37 to move ahead on the nomination of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to be energy secretary. Carson has never held public office and has no housing policy experience. Republicans have praised the life story of a man who grew up in inner-city Detroit with a single mother who had a third-grade education. When his nomination cleared the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in January, Democrats said Carson would not have been their choice, but they welcomed his promises to enforce fair housing and to address lead hazards in housing and other issues. He was approved unanimously in the committee. Sarah Edelman, director of housing policy at the Center for American Progress, said her group would work to hold Carson accountable for the promises he made. Carson, she said, has “made disparaging statements about families experiencing poverty, LGBT people, and fair housing that raise questions about his ability to be a fair and effective leader.” Carson, 65, will lead an agency with some 8,300 employees and a budget of about $47 billion. The department provides billions of dollars in housing assistance to low-income people through vouchers and public housing. It also enforces fair housing laws and offers mortgage insurance to poorer Americans through the Federal Housing Administration, part of HUD. Trump lauded his nominee last week, calling him a “totally brilliant neurosurgeon” who has saved many lives. “We’re going to do great things in our African-American communities,” Trump said, appearing with Carson on a tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington. “Ben is going to work with me very, very closely. And HUD has a meaning far beyond housing. If properly done, it’s a meaning that’s as big as anything there is, and Ben will be able to find that true meaning and the true meaning of HUD as its Secretary,” Trump said. Carson has not shared specific plans publicly for the department under his leadership. At his confirmation hearing, he told lawmakers that he envisioned forging a more “holistic approach” to helping people and developing “the whole person.” He didn’t offer many details. Under questioning from Democrats, Carson said HUD’s rental assistance is “essential” to millions of Americans and that the department has a lot of good programs. But he added, “We don’t want it to be way of life. … We want it to be a Band-Aid and a springboard to move forward.” He also said he’d like to see more partnerships with the private sector and religious groups. The soft-spoken Carson, the only black major-party candidate in the White House race, grew up poor. He went on to attend Yale University and the University of Michigan Medical School before becoming the first African-American named as the head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore. In 1987, Carson became famous for pioneering surgery to separate twins joined at the back of the head. In 2013, he entered the national political spotlight during the National Prayer Breakfast when he railed against the modern welfare state, with President Barack Obama sitting just feet away. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Jeff Sessions recuses himself from Russia inquiry
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday recused himself from overseeing any federal investigation into charges that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Speaking at a Department of Justice press conference, the former Alabama Senator said he was following the advice of his staff. “I have now decided to recuse myself from any existing or future investigations of any matter relating in any way to the campaign for president of the United States,” Sessions said. “This announcement should not be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of any investigation or suggestive of the scope of any such investigation.” “They said that since I had involvement with the campaign, I should not be involved in any campaign investigation,” he added. Moving forward, the department’s second-highest ranking official, the deputy attorney general will ll handle all campaign-related investigations. For now that’s long-time federal prosecutor, Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente. Boente will serve in the position until President Donald Trump’s permanent nominee for the post, Rod Rosenstein, has him confirmation hearing on March 7. On Wednesday, Sessions came under intense fire following a Washington Post report that claimed he spoke with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential campaign, then denied any meetings under oath during his confirmation hearing. The White House is standing behind Sessions and his decision.
