RE: Sessions....... didn't disclose during confirmation.....
Perjury is a pretty high hill to climb, and on the facts presented so far, this situation doesn't climb that hill. For one thing, I believe Franken's question would be ruled out of order in a Texas court room. I'd be interested in comments of attorneys from other states about that, as procedures differ from state to state. For another thing, particularly in the context in which it was asked, I think there is strong reason for Sessions to answer the question as if it was addressed specifically to political contacts in his capacity as a member of the Trump administration-to-be, and at the dates in question, I don't think Sessions was onboard the Trump campaign. He could certainly argue with credibility that was his understanding, and absent some really damaging disclosure elsewhere, that should pretty much kill any perjury action. I think the McCaskill sequence is instructive. You're a senator in DC, you're going to run into ambassadors all the time in all sorts of places, so often that those incidents cease to make an impression on you when they occur.
That being said, I don't think Sessions handled it very well. Things that I think he could have done better would be 1) to ask to see whatever it is that Franken's question was based on, something like, "I don't comment on things that I have not seen or heard myself, so before I answer, could you please provide me with a copy of whatever information you have received so that my response can be appropriate?" Then I would ask for a clarification of the question, "Do you mean any contact with any Russian, such as running into him/her at a cocktail party or other social event, or are you referring only to meetings with a specific political intent?" And my response would be something like, "I don't keep a running tally of my social calendar in my head, and I did not review my calendar to prepare for this meeting, but at this point I don't recall any such meeting, and I specifically am certain that no meeting for purely political purposes occurred."
I don't think there's much of anything to this whole Russian conspiracy theory. For one thing, if I were Vladimir Putin seeking to exert some kind of control over the USA, I don't believe that getting Donald Trump elected president is the approach that I would take. That being said, I think the quickest way for this to end is for Sessions to recuse himself and an investigation take place. With CIA and DNI under new hands, my guess is that those intel estimates that Russia hijacked our election will go away, and Comey will go along with that conclusion. So far I've seen a whole lot of innuendo but precious little in the way of factual information that would support the allegations made.
Bottom line: So Sessions had two meetings with the Russian Ambassador over the last 6 months, one of them apparently little more, if any, than a chance meeting, like seeing your doctor at the grocery store. That would certainly not support an allegation that he is conspiring with "the Russians" to do anything.
(This post was last modified: 03-02-2017 04:50 PM by Owl 69/70/75.)
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Sessions....... didn't disclose during confirmation.....
