UPDATED - Cornyn: 'Premature' For Sessions To Recuse Himself From Russia Probe
Last edited Thu Mar 2, 2017, 01:10 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Talking Points Memo
By ESME CRIBB Published MARCH 2, 2017, 10:51 AM EDT
Tierney Sneed contributed reporting.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) said on Thursday that it would be "premature" for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from an investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia in the wake of revelations that Sessions met twice with a Russian ambassador before the election.
"I think that's premature," Cornyn said in response to a question on whether Sessions should recuse himself from the probe.
"What we need to do is complete the investigation the Senate Intelligence Committee is having on a bipartisan basis, because we really don't know what the facts are," he said.
Cornyn said that nobody knows "what happened" when Session spoke with the ambassador. "I think that's why the investigation's so important," he said. "I think a bipartisan intelligence committee investigation is the way to go."
Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-cornyn-premature-for-sessions-to-recuse-himself
UPDATE:
GOP Senator: 'It Would Be Best' For Sessions To Recuse Himself From Probe
By ESME CRIBB Published MARCH 2, 2017, 11:08 AM EDT
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said Thursday that "it would be best" for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from a probe into any ties between the Trump campaign and Russia in the wake of revelations that Sessions met with Russia's ambassador to the United States before the election.
"Jeff 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 said in a statement.
more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rob-portman-calls-for-sessions-to-recuse-himself
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Sen. Blunt: 'There's No Real Revelation' In WaPo Report
By MATT SHUHAM Published MARCH 2, 2017, 11:25 AM EDT
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) said Thursday that “there’s no real revelation” in the Washington Post report Wednesday night that Attorney General Jeff Sessions met twice with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the 2016 campaign.
Asked what he would do as attorney general about allegations that members of the Trump campaign had been in contact with Russians during the campaign at his confirmation hearing on Jan. 10, Sessions responded: “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians."
He later denied in a written statement to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-NH) that he “been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after Election Day.”
“Well, the best I can tell, there’s no real revelation, which is interesting,” Blunt told reporters Thursday. “He was asked a question about whether he’d talked to the Russians about the campaign, and he said ‘no.’ As far as I know, that is the truth, and he says that’s the truth. And I think what he said this morning was that he’d recuse himself if at some point it became appropriate to do that, and I continue to think he’ll be the best judge of knowing when that moment is.”
more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/blunt-no-real-revelation-russia-sessions
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GOP Sen. Has No Concerns 'At All' About Sessions' Statements Under Oath
By ESME CRIBB Published MARCH 2, 2017, 11:32 AM EDT
Alice Ollstein contributed reporting.
Sen. James Risch (R-ID) said on Thursday that he has no concerns "at all" that Attorney General Jeff Sessions could have misled or lied to a Senate committee during his confirmation hearing when he claimed that he did not have contact with Russia before the election.
Asked if he had concerns that Sessions misled the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing in January, Risch told TPM: "None at all."
"No, none at all. I'm on Foreign Relations and on Intelligence," he added, referring to the Senate committees. "In the last 24 months I've met with high-ranking officials from half the countries on the face of this earth. If you asked me which ones I did, I couldn't tell."
more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/james-risch-no-concerns-at-all-sessions-claims-under-oath
= new reply since forum marked as read
but that's too much wit for him. That said, what widdle wit he does have, qualifies him to be a GOP Senator. 
