Posted on 03/02/2017 1:13:31 AM PST by Brad from Tennessee
Democrats and the media are once again targeting Attorney General Jeff Sessions this time, over allegations that he met twice with the Russian ambassador during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The Washington Post reports that Sessions met Sergey Kislyak once at a Heritage Foundation event in July 2016, where other ambassadors were also present. It also reports that Sessions met with Kislyak in his Senate office in September, in his capacity on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The hook on which the Post attempts to hang Sessions is that he did not disclose the meetings to the Senate when he was asked about possible contacts between members of President Trumps campaign and representatives of Moscow. Sessionss spokesperson at the Department of Justice, Sarah Isgur Flores, says his answer in January was truthful because he was asked about the Trump campaign not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee.
The Post does not provide the full transcript of the question, from Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), and Sessionss answer. Instead it summarizes the exchange in a way that makes it seem that Sessions was asked if there was any contact at all between the campaign and representatives of the Russian government.
In fact, what Sessions was asked about was sustained, ongoing communications a core accusation in the dubious dossier.
Here, via C-SPAN, is the transcript:
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
When will our Republican leaders learn.
Play to win, not to return home with the white ribbon.
What idiots.
Also, President Trump has caved on the Muslim moratorium (not a ban, I LIKE BAN) from 7 countries and now he has left himself WIDE open to cave on immigration. Give an inch they will take the mile. Not doing anything at the speech with a houseful (in OUR HOUSE) of illegals in the audience with Dem congrescritters was the first slap in the face Now they are emboldened to go further. Next step, showing up at the White House with the illegal invaders.
Yep play to lose every time. Same toilet, different turd.
i also agree.
The Trump administration MUST inflict very real and painful consequences to both Democrat AND Republican operatives and office holders for cooperating and facilitating these “Tetris-like” narrative projects whose entire reason for being is a tendentious undermining of ALL political opposition.
When my son brought it up this morning, I said, “Let’s see what the details are.” Having now seen the details, even he, the blond dingbat, agrees that Sen. Sessions did not “lie under oath.”
Good post, thanks.
1. I did not articulate a position that the "Senator was not truthfully answering the question asked."
2. I simply observed that the transcript does not prove that he was telling the truth:
"The Breitbart article opines that the transcript shows that Attorney General Sessions is telling the truth. It does not, it simply provides an alternative explanation which is enough, certainly enough to withstand any calls for a special prosecutor. The language in the Franklin question is ambiguous enough for the Attorney General to claim that he was telling the truth as he understood it."
3. Please note Sessions reply, "Sessions: Senator Franken, Im 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, and Im unable to comment on it."
4. You ask, "Was not the question regarding Sessions contact (if there was any) in the specific context of whether the 2016 election was a topic of discussion?"
5. No, Franken's question was not so limited. In any event sessions answer was not delimited, " I did not have communications with the Russians "
6. Sessions did in fact have "communications with the Russians" so the question becomes, is there anything in Franken's question which limits it to certain kinds of communications as opposed to any kind of communications?
7. The Franken question from the transcript:
Franken: "CNN just published a story alleging that the intelligence community provided documents to the president-elect last week, that included information that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump. These documents also allegedly say there was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government. Again, Im telling you this as its coming out, so you know. But if its true, its obviously extremely serious, and if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do?"
8. The predicate for Franken's question had to do with incriminating documents, so it might be argued that the question related only to "compromising personal and financial information about Mister Trump"
9. But the Franken question goes on to identify "continuing exchange of information" is that limited to "compromising personal and financial information about Mister Trump" or does it open it up to any kind of communication?
10. Unfortunately, whether limited or not, the question was answered in an overbroad and incautious manner. The context of the question does not prove that Sessions was telling the truth, but it does leave the matter open to alternative plausible explanation. If Jeff Sessions had known about the ambiguities subsequent to that hearing and before all this came out, the fact that he did not correct the record is problematic. We simply do not know the state of his mind. Nor do we know the state of his mind at the time he answered the question.
11. Therefore, especially when one views the context of the Senator operating in the capacity of the senatorial office and treating with several ambassadors at the time, there is more than reasonable doubt that is answers were entirely ingenuous. Even if one concludes that he probably told the truth there is no conclusive evidence that he did tell the truth as asserted by Breitbart rather there is equally evidence from the ill considered breath of his answer to believe that he did not.
You can’t go to ANY function in DC, and not be hip-deep in “spies”. . .
WTH, if Hellary can forget everything she did when it’s convenient to forget why can’t Sessions?
Lighten up Francis. Trump is playing these scumbags like a fiddle. It is early in the war and this is but one of the first battles. Most Americans can see straight through the lying scum Media and the Democrats and recognize that they are one and the same. This Russian business is complete BS with no merit whatsoever.
The Dems desperately want to tarnish Sessions. This is because once he starts investigating and exposing their sordid shenanigans their only defense will be that his investigation is “political revenge”. In other words, they are trying to proactively trash him and discredit any explosive findings that are damaging to certain circles in the Democrat Party. Make no mistake about it, this is an existential matter to the Dems. Sessions has the power to destroy them.
Rumor that soon will come release of info about evil despicable acts by top names
Their attack on Sessions suggests panic
Your last sentence explains everything. This is what is driving the fake Russian story. The Dems are in desperation mode. They truly fear what Sessions might reveal. That’s what all this is really about.
I listened to this on NPR this morning.
************
With all due respect, how can you listen to that daily barrage of taxpayer subsidized left wing propaganda?
I dream of the day when the “Corporation” for Public Broadcasting is de-funded. Maybe Trump will do it.
Bingo!
As the old saying goes: The flak is the heaviest when you’re directly over the target.
With all due respect, how can you listen to that daily barrage of taxpayer subsidized left wing propaganda?
Your blood pressure must be at a very healthy level. :)
The EPA does that.
Enemy media....
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