As part of their effort to prove the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the presidential election, Democrats in Congress are calling officials and former officials to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Last week, senators questioned former FBI Director James Comey. He disappointed the Democrats, since he affirmed Trump’s version of events. This week, they called Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The pair had recommended Trump fire Comey for the way he handled the probe into Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

Sessions’ testimony equally disappointed Democrats. He said repeatedly that he saw no evidence of collusion. He called the accusation that he personally colluded with the Russians to influence the election “a detestable lie.” At one point, he stormed, “The suggestion that I participated in any collusion or that I was aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country, which I have served with honor for over 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie.”

Sessions said, “The President never asked me to do anything unethical or illegal.”

He clarified that when he said during his confirmation hearing that he hadn’t spoken with Russians, he meant that no “surrogates had been meeting with Russians on a regular basis.” In fact, he said, he did not recall any of Trump’s campaign staff meeting with the Russians. He probably had two meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign. This is perfectly normal for presidential campaign officials.

Spy Fiction?

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) engaged in the most dramatic exchange with Sessions. “Do you like spy fiction?” he asked. “Have you ever, ever in any of these fantastical situations heard of a plot line so ridiculous that a sitting United States senator and an ambassador of a foreign government colluded at an open setting with hundreds of other people to pull off the greatest caper in the history of espionage?”

He was referring to Trump’s first foreign policy speech at the Mayflower Hotel in April 2016. Both he and the Russian ambassador attended. Sessions does not recall talking to him.

Sessions laughed for the first time during the questioning. “Thank you for saying that, Senator Cotton. It’s just like through the looking glass,” he responded. “I mean, what is this? … I didn’t meet with them.”

Nothing Wrong With Trump Meeting Privately One-on-One With Comey

During Comey’s testimony last week, he said he felt awkward meeting with Trump one-on-one. He said he spoke with Sessions about it later, but he blew it off. Sessions said there was nothing “problematic” about the president privately meeting with Comey. “[Comey] did not tell me at that time any details about anything that was said that was improper.”

He saw “nothing wrong” with the president talking to the FBI director. “It didn’t seem to be a major problem. I knew that Director Comey, long-time experienced individual of the Department of Justice, could handle himself well.” Comey had said he spoke six or more times with President Obama and Trump.

Sessions denied he stayed silent when Comey urged him never to leave him alone again with Trump. He urged the FBI and Justice Department officials to follow proper protocol in their communications with the White House, he said. “[Comey] didn’t recall this, but I responded to his comment by agreeing.”

Sessions Protects Trump

Sessions declined to discuss Trump’s reasons for firing Comey. He said it was privileged information. Democrats accused him of stonewalling. Sessions denied doing so, saying he was just following the DOJ’s historic practices. He said he was protecting the president’s ability to invoke executive privilege. Democrats hammered him over this, saying he couldn’t invoke the privilege for Trump.

Sen. Lankford said he was amazed at the senators who thought Sessions was obliged to repeat private conversations with the president. He noted Democrats didn’t object when Obama’s AG Eric Holder withheld documents and private talks from Congress.

Referring to the rumor that Trump might fire Special prosecutor Robert Mueller, Sessions said that “the latest unnamed sourced story of the day” is “grabbing all the attention.”  Mueller was appointed to look into the claims of collusion. Rosenstein had said in his testimony earlier in the day that only he as Acting AG has the authority to fire Mueller.

Sessions repeated what he told the president about firing Comey. “When Mr. Comey declined the Clinton prosecution, that was really a usurpation of the authority of the federal prosecutors in the Department of Justice.” Later on, he referred to it as a “Pretty breathtaking usurpation of the responsibility of the attorney general.” Comey’s public statement about the Clinton probe in July violated DOJ rules.

Since he had recused himself from the Russian probe, he said, his decision to fire Comey was not based on Comey’s actions there. He and Rosenstein had discussed replacing Comey before they were confirmed. “We both found that we shared common view that a fresh start would be appropriate.”

Sessions’ Recusal From the Russian Probe

Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) told Sessions the committee has found no evidence of collusion.

Sessions explained he recused himself from the Russian probe because he had advised the campaign. He cited part of the federal code covering disqualification arising from personal or political relationship.

One senator asked him why Comey said his recusal was “problematic.” He responded irritatedly, “This is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, and I don’t appreciate it.”

As a result of recusing himself, he is not aware of any evidence that Russia hacked the election. “I never received any detailed briefing on how the hacking occurred,” he told the committee. The committee has found no evidence of collusion, Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) told him.

Sessions defended the president from charges he’d interfered with law enforcement.“The President never asked me to do anything unethical or illegal.”

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