U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ public testimony before a Senate panel on Tuesday sets up another potentially dramatic hearing on possible ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race.
[The Senate hearing is scheduled to begin at 2:30pm. You can watch it LIVE on your favorite network or cable news channel.]
Sessions will likely face tough questions at the open Senate Intelligence Committee hearing over his dealings with Russian officials during the campaign and whether he had a e in the firing of former FBI Director James Comey.
Until a statement on Monday from committee Chairman Richard Burr, a Republican, it had been unclear whether Sessions would testify in an open or closed setting.
Initially, Sessions expected to testify in a closed-door session, said two sources familiar with the attorney general’s thinking. But he left the decision up to Burr, the sources said.
A Justice Department spokeswoman said that Sessions requested the open setting because “he believes it is important for the American people to hear the truth directly from him.”
Comey told the same panel last week that the FBI had information in mid-February on Sessions that would have made it “problematic” for the attorney general to continue leading a federal probe into Russian attempts to influence the presidential election.
Bloomberg video:Â U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify publicly before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday after the Justice Department issued a statement saying Sessions wanted Americans to “hear the truth directly from him.” Bloomberg’s Kevin Cirilli reports on “Bloomberg Markets: European Open.”[/vc_message]
