Attorney General Jeff Sessions strongly disputed allegations that he was not truthful in earlier testimony about Trump campaign contacts with Russian officials. "I will not accept and reject accusations that I have ever lied," he said.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says that he does not remember speaking to Carter Page during the 2016 presidential campaign about a trip that the former foreign policy campaign adviser took to Russia.

Page told the House intelligence committee earlier this month that he had informed some members of the Trump campaign about the trip, including Sessions. He said he mentioned in passing to Sessions that he was visiting Russia and Sessions had no reaction.

Page's trip has drawn scrutiny in probes of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign.

Sessions said he doesn't challenge Page's recollection, but doesn't remember the conversation.

He also said he thinks he told former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos that he wasn't authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government.

Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about foreign contacts. He was part of a foreign policy council that Sessions chaired, and charging documents in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation indicate that Papadopoulos told the council that he could help arrange a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

An attendee at the meeting recalled that Sessions quickly shut the conversation down.

Sessions said that to his recollection, "I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government, or any other foreign government, for that matter."

POOL

Washington, DC - 14 November 2017

1. Wide of Attorney General Jeff Sessions entering hearing room

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeff Sessions, Attorney General

"Lastly, I would like to address the false charges made about my previous testimony. My answers have not changed. I have always told the truth, and I have answered every question as I understood them to the best of my recollection as I will continue to do today. I would like to address recent news reports regarding meetings during the campaign attended by George Papadopoulos and Carter Page among others. Frankly, I had no recollection of this meeting until I saw these news reports. I do now recall that the March 2016 meeting at the Trump hotel that Mr. Papadopoulos attended, but I have no clear recollection of the details of what he said at that meeting. After reading his account and to the best of my recollection, I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government, or any other foreign government for that matter. But I did not recall this event which occurred 18 months before my testimony of a few weeks ago, and I would gladly have reported it had I remembered it because I pushed back against his suggestion that I thought may have been improper. As for Mr. Page, while I do not challenge his recollection, I have no memory of his presence at a dinner at the Capitol Hill Club, or any passing conversation he may have had with me as he left the dinner."

3. Wide of Sessions at witness table

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeff Sessions, Attorney General

"In all of my testimony, I can only do my best to answer your questions as I understand them and to the best of my memory. But I will not accept and reject accusations that I have ever lied. That is a lie! Let me be clear. I have at all times conducted myself honorably, and in a manner consistent with the high standards and responsibilities of the office of attorney general, which I revere. I spent 15 years in that department. I love that department. I honor that department and will do my dead level best to be worthy of your attorney general. As I said before, my story has never changed. I have always told the truth, and I have answered every question to the best of my recollection and will continue to do so today."

5. Wide of Sessions and congressmen at hearing

Attorney General Jeff Sessions strongly disputed allegations that he was not truthful in earlier testimony about Trump campaign contacts with Russian officials. "I will not accept and reject accusations that I have ever lied," he said.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says that he does not remember speaking to Carter Page during the 2016 presidential campaign about a trip that the former foreign policy campaign adviser took to Russia.

Page told the House intelligence committee earlier this month that he had informed some members of the Trump campaign about the trip, including Sessions. He said he mentioned in passing to Sessions that he was visiting Russia and Sessions had no reaction.

Page's trip has drawn scrutiny in probes of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign.

Sessions said he doesn't challenge Page's recollection, but doesn't remember the conversation.

He also said he thinks he told former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos that he wasn't authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government.

Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about foreign contacts. He was part of a foreign policy council that Sessions chaired, and charging documents in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation indicate that Papadopoulos told the council that he could help arrange a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

An attendee at the meeting recalled that Sessions quickly shut the conversation down.

Sessions said that to his recollection, "I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government, or any other foreign government, for that matter."

POOL

Washington, DC - 14 November 2017

1. Wide of Attorney General Jeff Sessions entering hearing room

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeff Sessions, Attorney General

"Lastly, I would like to address the false charges made about my previous testimony. My answers have not changed. I have always told the truth, and I have answered every question as I understood them to the best of my recollection as I will continue to do today. I would like to address recent news reports regarding meetings during the campaign attended by George Papadopoulos and Carter Page among others. Frankly, I had no recollection of this meeting until I saw these news reports. I do now recall that the March 2016 meeting at the Trump hotel that Mr. Papadopoulos attended, but I have no clear recollection about the details about what he said at that meeting. After reading his account and to the best of my recollection, I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government, or any other foreign government for that matter. But I did not recall this event which occurred 18 months before testimony of a few weeks ago, and I would gladly have reported it had I remembered it because I pushed back against his suggestion that I thought may have been improper. As for Mr. Page, while I do not challenge his recollection, I have no memory of his presence at a dinner at the Capitol Hill Club, or any passing conversation he had with me as he left the dinner."

3. Wide of Sessions at witness table

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeff Sessions, Attorney General

"In all of my testimony, I can only do my best to answer your questions as I understand them and to the best of my memory. But I will not accept and reject accusations that I have ever lied. That is a lie! Let me be clear. I have at all times conducted myself honorably, and in a manner consistent with the high standards and responsibilities of the office of attorney general, which I revere. I spent 15 years in that department. I love that department. I honor that department and will do my dead level best to be worthy of your attorney general. As I said before, my story has never changed. I have always told the truth, and I have answered every question to the best of my recollection."

5. Wide of Sessions and congressmen at hearing

Attorney General Jeff Sessions strongly disputed allegations that he was not truthful in earlier testimony about Trump campaign contacts with Russian officials. "I will not accept and reject accusations that I have ever lied," he said.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says that he does not remember speaking to Carter Page during the 2016 presidential campaign about a trip that the former foreign policy campaign adviser took to Russia.

Page told the House intelligence committee earlier this month that he had informed some members of the Trump campaign about the trip, including Sessions. He said he mentioned in passing to Sessions that he was visiting Russia and Sessions had no reaction.

Page's trip has drawn scrutiny in probes of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign.

Sessions said he doesn't challenge Page's recollection, but doesn't remember the conversation.

He also said he thinks he told former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos that he wasn't authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government.

Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about foreign contacts. He was part of a foreign policy council that Sessions chaired, and charging documents in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation indicate that Papadopoulos told the council that he could help arrange a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

An attendee at the meeting recalled that Sessions quickly shut the conversation down.

Sessions said that to his recollection, "I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government, or any other foreign government, for that matter."

POOL

Washington, DC - 14 November 2017

1. Wide of Attorney General Jeff Sessions entering hearing room

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeff Sessions, Attorney General

"Lastly, I would like to address the false charges made about my previous testimony. My answers have not changed. I have always told the truth, and I have answered every question as I understood them to the best of my recollection as I will continue to do today. I would like to address recent news reports regarding meetings during the campaign attended by George Papadopoulos and Carter Page among others. Frankly, I had no recollection of this meeting until I saw these news reports. I do now recall that the March 2016 meeting at the Trump hotel that Mr. Papadopoulos attended, but I have no clear recollection about the details about what he said at that meeting. After reading his account and to the best of my recollection, I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government, or any other foreign government for that matter. But I did not recall this event which occurred 18 months before testimony of a few weeks ago, and I would gladly have reported it had I remembered it because I pushed back against his suggestion that I thought may have been improper. As for Mr. Page, while I do not challenge his recollection, I have no memory of his presence at a dinner at the Capitol Hill Club, or any passing conversation he had with me as he left the dinner."

3. Wide of Sessions at witness table

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeff Sessions, Attorney General

"In all of my testimony, I can only do my best to answer your questions as I understand them and to the best of my memory. But I will not accept and reject accusations that I have ever lied. That is a lie! Let me be clear. I have at all times conducted myself honorably, and in a manner consistent with the high standards and responsibilities of the office of attorney general, which I revere. I spent 15 years in that department. I love that department. I honor that department and will do my dead level best to be worthy of your attorney general. As I said before, my story has never changed. I have always told the truth, and I have answered every question to the best of my recollection."

5. Wide of Sessions and congressmen at hearing