- The Washington Times - Sunday, June 11, 2017

A high-ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee couldn’t confirm Sunday whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify before the committee on Tuesday.

“Don’t know whether it will happen. Don’t know whether it is going to be public,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Mr. Sessions was scheduled to appear before a Senate Appropriations panel to discuss budget issues at the Justice Department. On Saturday, the attorney general wrote a formal letter stating he would like to appear before the committee following fired FBI director James Comey’s testimony last week about the Russia investigation.

During the hearing, Mr. Comey told the committee he thought President Trump fired him because of the Russia investigation and alleged that Mr. Trump requested his loyalty.

He also said he thought Mr. Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, which Mr. Sessions later did.

“We also were aware of facts that I can’t discuss in an open setting that would make his continued engagement in a Russia-related investigation problematic,” said Mr. Comey.

Ms. Feinstein said she would like to see the attorney general appear before the Judiciary Committee, where she is the ranking Demcorat.

“The judiciary staff are all lawyers … and so, there is an opportunity to look at the law with respect to obstruction of justice, to hold a hearing and also to have those relevant people to come before the Judiciary Committee,” she said.

Ms. Feinstein indicated she believes Mr. Comey’s account of the loyalty pledge over Mr. Trump’s version of their private conversation.

Mr. Trump has hinted there may be a recording of his conversation with Mr. Comey, but he refused Friday to confirm whether any tape exists.

“If there are tapes, please, the president is equivocal on this, please bring those tapes forward,” said Ms. Feinstein.

Mr. Trump took to Twitter on Sunday to bash the former FBI director over admitting to leaking memos that first detailed their private conversation in a story by The New York Times.

“I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very ’cowardly!’” the president tweeted.

• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.

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