AG Sessions Set for Grilling on Russia, Comey Firing
PAUL: All right. The President Trump and Russia probe moving full speed ahead right now. The House and Senate investigators firing of a litany of requests from former FBI Director James Comey's memos after his sworn testimony against President Trump. The President's response, Comey is a liar and a leaker.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Flynn investigation, you could like --</s>TRUMP: I didn't say that.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So he lied about that?</s>TRUMP: Well, I didn't say that. I mean, I will tell you, I didn't say that. No collusion, no obstruction. He's a leaker. But we want to get back to running our great country.</s>SAVIDGE: Independent special prosecutor Bob Mueller appears to be paying very close attention, no surprise there. According to the National Law Journal, Mueller has now recruited Deputy Solicitor General Michael Dreeben from the Justice Department. Dreeben is a top criminal law expert who has argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court. His edition to Mueller's team signals that the probe might be looking at the obstruction of justice caused by the President.</s>PAUL: And Attorney General Jeff Sessions by the way is set to testify next week before the Senate about the Justice Department's budget. One topic almost certain to come up is the latest revelation about his relationship with the Russian ambassador to the</s>U.S. SAVIDGE: That revelation reportedly came from James Comey when he met with senators behind closed doors on Thursday. Sources tells CNN Comey told them that Sessions may have had a third, undisclosed meeting with Sergey Kislyak. All of this as the Attorney General's relationship with the President appears to be on pretty shaky ground. CNN's Jessica Schneider has details on that.</s>JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The embattled Attorney General facing new scrutiny as he's about to be grilled on Capitol Hill about his interactions with Russians. CNN has told James Comey revealed to senators Thursday in a closed door briefing, that Jeff Sessions may have had a third undisclosed meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. It's an encounter Comey alluded to earlier in his public testimony.</s>JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: We also are aware of facts that I can't discuss in an open setting that would make his continued engagement in a Russia related investigation, problematic.</s>SCHNEIDER: The possible meeting took place April 27th, 2016 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. Where then candidate Donald Trump was delivering his first major foreign policy address. Investigators cautioned the encounter learned about through Russian intercepts may have been exaggerated, sources say. A Department of Justice spokesperson has said the meeting never happened. If it did, Senator Richard Blumenthal told Erin Burnett it could put Sessions in serious legal jeopardy.</s>SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: Denied, possibly in violation of the law. That denial as former Director Comey --</s>ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Could be perjury?</s>BLUMENTHAL: Could be perjury.</s>SCHNEIDER: The allegations arrived as a source close to Sessions says, President Trump and the Attorney General have been at odds in recent weeks engaging in a series of heated exchanges. The tension sparked after Sessions stepped aside from the Russia investigation in March.</s>JEFF SESSIONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I have recused myself in the matters that deal with the Trump campaign.</s>SCHNEIDER: That came after the Attorney General admitted that he failed to disclose at its confirmation hearing two meetings with Ambassador Kislyak during the election. But the Justice Department and Sessions maintained the recusal was solely because of his relationship with the Trump campaign. That recusal left the President livid, according to a source. At one point, Sessions offered to resign. But a source says, the President knows accepting that resignation would ignite another fire storm.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to resign, Mr. Attorney General?</s>SAVIDGE: That was CNN's Jessica Schneider reporting. So, let's bring back our panel. Eugene Scott, CNN politics reporter. Kelly Jane Torrance, deputy managing editor of The Weekly Standard. Joey Jackson, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense Attorney. Tom Fuentes, CNN's senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI Assistant Director. Eugene, to you. If AG Sessions did have a third meeting, what does that really mean for him, the Attorney General politically?</s>SCOTT: Well, this means that this would be another example of the Attorney General engaging in some type of interaction with Russia that he did not reveal. And it certainly brings questions about his integrity just up and resurfaces them for people who trusted what he said and that hearing was actually true. He's been found to have left out some information, already, from that time before lawmakers. And this would just raise another red flag. I think what's much more interesting to pay attention too is what this is say about the relationship between Sessions and Donald Trump. The President, I think, as Jessica just reported is very aware that he really does not have a lot of room on his plate for another controversy. And so, if this ends up being one of those, the future of Attorney General Sessions I think is up for question.</s>PAUL: Kelly, I want to listen to Senator Blumenthal here. He says, Sessions is emerging as a key figure in the Russian probe. Let's listen to what he said to Erin Burnett.</s>SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: What we have here is a pattern. And I can't confirm what may have been provided in a classified setting, but with a third meeting and even without it, what we have is a pattern of contacts with the Russians by Flynn, by Sessions, by Kushner, secret, and then concealed.</s>ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think Attorney General Sessions is -- he's going to stay in that job?</s>BLUMENTHAL: He's emerging more and more as a key figure here.</s>PAUL: So how key, Kelly, not just to the independent investigation, but to this congressional investigation?</s>KELLY JANE TORRANCE, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, THE WEEKLY STANDARD: Well, he was smart, by the way, to recuse himself, you know, relatively early on. And it's strange that the president -- that's why he's angry with the attorney general because he really had no choice. And if he hadn't, he would be in much more trouble than he is now. Now what's interesting is, you know, Comey gave this information in a closed door hearing. But of course we know what he said, it wasn't very closed door. And apparently they don't have evidence, they don't have proof that Attorney General Sessions had this third meeting. They think he did, but they don't have definitive proof. So it's again going to come down to a he said-he said kind of thing, perhaps. But the main point is, it looks bad if you have Trump officials who have met with the Russian ambassador and other Russian officials and somehow forgot about them and didn't mention them. I mean, you know, this is the ambassador to, you know, perhaps America's biggest rival in the world. How would you possibly forget such a meeting? And it kind of blows the mind to think it's possible.</s>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Tom, you know, I listened to Comey as he talked about the attorney general and the way he spoke, obviously, made you feel like there is a whole lot more to this. But of course, then he said, you know, I can't talk about it. This, again, seems to go to Comey and the way he is speaking publicly about things that maybe should remain semi under investigation before you speak about them because it's very damming against the attorney general, even the implication.</s>TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Just appears that Comey is trying to get even with everybody. He takes revenge out on the president and Attorney General Sessions and, you know, drop these innuendos that get blown, you know, way out. Now it's just they referred to as a meeting. Did they actually speak to each other at this meeting? Was it at a public event, you know? And I can tell you, when I went through every five years, my reinvestigation to maintain my top secret and everything about that set of clearances, you know, questions like that would come up. Well, how many foreign -- adversarial officials, how many communists did you meet with? I don't know, a couple of thousand at various events. Eight trips to China. How many trips to Moscow? How many trips, you know, on bureau business, on executive order. You can't remember every little one. And they're not necessarily nefarious that you're having, you know, they're off in the corner discussing how they are going to sabotage the presidency or collude with the Russians and all of that. I just think that Comey did a tremendous disservice in a closed-hearing dropping that hint that Sessions somehow met with the ambassador when we don't even know if that was -- if it even qualifies as a meeting. Did they actually rub elbows in the entry line or how did this actually work? We don't know.</s>PAUL: OK. So, Joey, let me throw another name at you here. Jared Kushner, we understand he's going to meet with Senate Intel Committee this month. What kind of questions do you think he's going to -- he will answer?</s>JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, first, Christi, if I can just address something briefly. I didn't get the impression from Comey that he was trying to get even with anyone. I got the impression that he was testifying under oath to the best of his recollection. And as it relates to a closed-door session, if you are asked a question under oath, you have to answer that question. And if you have some knowledge and your agency is investigating a potential third meeting to leave that out, it subjects yourself to some issue. And so I don't know that this is an axe to grind as much as it's a guy trying to be as truthful as possible who's put in, in an impossible position. Now in terms of Jared Kushner, and just in terms of the whole Russian investigation, just to be clear, there's nothing wrong. There's nothing inappropriate, there's nothing improper about meeting with anybody or Russian officials. But not disclosing that is the improper thing. Why not say something about it? And, you know, Jared Kushner, you're asking about, Christi, is, you know, indications that you're asked on a form. Right? You're asked on a form about who you met with, who you spoke to. And you omit that. Now it could clearly be an innocent thing that you just decided that, you know, you just didn't recollect it at the time or it could be something more significant. And so I think Jared Kushner, along with everyone else who is questioned here, the committees are going to want to know. What was the extent of your involvement? What was the nature of any communication you had? What did you discuss? Was it purposes for governmental? Was it private purposes or anything else? Because at the end of the day, Christi, it's about getting to the issue of whether or not there was any collusion between the two. And they will ask each and every question to get to that bottom line.</s>PAUL: All right. Joey Jackson, Tom Fuentes, thank you so much for sticking around with us. Eugene Scott, Kelly Jane Torrance, thank you as well. I know you are going to stay for just a little bit longer. So we appreciate your voices in all of this. Thank you, guys.</s>SAVIDGE: And with the eyes of the political world on James Comey this week, the House and Senate took major steps on financial regulations and health care. Next, what you may have missed.