The General Prosecutor managed to avoid causing significant harm to his boss, but without the teleprompter he could not answer the most important questions that terribly annoying day.
During the testimony in Russia in the Senate, the standard answer of the attorney-General was the phrase “can’t remember”, and uncertainty were the order of the day.
He began with statements, is well suitable for headlines of the old school, insisting that the allegation of his involvement in the conspiracy with Russia “shocking and disgusting lie”.
But the testimony of Jeff Cessna on Capitol hill on Tuesday will be remembered through time, that turned into memes of the 21st century. Answering questions California Democrat Kamala Harris, sessions, a former Senator from Alabama with a vague idea about civil rights, said, “I can’t answer when I’m in a hurry. It makes me nervous.”
This is because Harris is black, a woman or a former Prosecutor or all of the above? Twitter will decide. But the incident showed how the failed attempt and Roman sessions to use bombast and bravado in the style of trump’s “Donald in disposable cups” as they called it last week a columnist for the New York Times Frank Bruni.
The General Prosecutor managed to avoid causing significant harm to his boss, but without the teleprompter he could not answer the most important questions that terribly annoying day. “Can’t comment” or “can’t remember” is his standard answer. It was obstruction, devoid of any charm.
Dodging answers, sessions said he couldn’t tell if he’s talking with trump about the Russian investigation. He declined to say whether he ordered trump to leave the office so that the President could say to the FBI Director James Komi not to step on Michael Flynn. He refused to say whether any discussion of a potential pardon for Flynn.
Although the Komi Republic is also holding a few aces up his sleeve before hearing in the Senate intelligence Committee last week, but the tone was drastically different. Komi is impossible to say that the questioning makes him nervous, or start to worry and to show impatience, as did sessions during the cross-examination of Ron Weiden, democratic Senator from Oregon.
Weiden and Roman sessions were pressing on, asking about why he said to recuse himself from participation in the investigation of the interference of Russia, and the problems that words and Roman sessions, he could not solve. “Why don’t you tell me? They are not, Senator Weiden, they are not. I can tell you with absolute certainty. This is a covert insinuation that leaked out,” angrily snapped the attorney General.
Weiden said the answer “did not pass inspection for lice.”
Several senators pressured and Roman sessions because of its failure to respond. First, he argued that “in accordance with longstanding practice of the Ministry of justice, I can not and will not violate their duty to protect confidential conversations with the President”. He then said that although trump has not invoked the privilege of the President, he can do it in the future. “I believe it would be premature to deny the President the full and reasonable range of Executive privilege”, he said. Few people was pleased with it.
Against Russia uncertainty were the order of the day. Yes, sessions were at the hotel “Mayflower” in Washington, but no, he had no official meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. “If there was a short fleeting communication with the Russian Ambassador during the reception, I don’t remember it.”
Like trump, sessions gave almost complete lack of curiosity in the question of Russian interference in presidential elections, admitting that he has never received a formal briefing. The question of whether Russia intervened, he replied: “probably, Yes”. He later complained that “it’s really tragic strategic event” that the US and Russia had not established relations.
The only figure more controversial than sessions, was Republican Senator Tom cotton of Arkansas, who mentioned the books of John Le Carre and films about James bond and Jason Bourne. He claimed that the accusations against Russia — this is spy fiction. “Thank you for saying that, Senator cotton. This is similar to “Wonderland.” What is this?” smiled sessions. Washington has not seen such adulation after a meeting of the Cabinet of trump 24 hours earlier.
