OPINION:
Sen. Al Franken, a.k.a. Stuart Smiley, ex-Saturday Night Liver, directed some hard words to his former senatorial colleague, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, telling him that in no uncertain terms he needed to get back before the Judiciary Committee and explain just why he seemed to offer up a false narrative about his meetings with Russians.
Mr. Franken-Smiley was blunt.
“It’s hard to come to any other conclusion that he just perjured himself,” he told CNN.
And Mr. Franken-Smiley was bold.
“[Sessions] answered a question that he asked himself, which is, ’Did I meet with any Russians?’ And he answered it falsely,’ he added. “He said, ’No, I hadn’t.’ “
But what Mr. Franken-Smiley wasn’t, was honest. Accusing Mr. Sessions of perjury — of lying under oath — is a bit of a stretch, to put it mildly.
To put it not so mildly: It’s an outrage. And astonishing.
Mr. Sessions, as we all know by now, was asked by Mr. Franken-Smiley at a hearing what he would do as attorney general if he learned someone tied to Team Donald Trump had engaged in conversations with Russia’s government during the course of the campaign.
The context of the question was the campaign.
So in that context, Mr. Sessions offered up that he personally had not had any “communications with the Russians.”
Of course, since the hearing, it’s been learned — and trumpeted all over the mainstream press, straight from the Democratic Party’s talking points sheet to newsrooms nationwide — that Mr. Sessions did indeed talk with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, during campaign season.
Twice.
As senators on the Armed Services Committee are wont to do.
Mr. Sessions has already recused his attorney general self from any future investigation into Trump campaign officials’ conversations with Russian officials. On top of that, he’s already explained both verbally, and just lately, on paper, that his answer to Mr. Franken-Smiley was “correct” and that he never engaged in improper — i.e., election-related — discussions with Mr. Kislyak.
And on that count, there are no facts to the contrary.
What we have, then, is an attorney general with an impeccable former Senate reputation who’s been quite highly regarded by members of both political parties for years, and who has no known record of dishonesty or unethical behavior — and an accusation from Mr. Franken-Smiley that he lied.
Under oath.
That he “perjured” himself.
Mr. Franken-Smiley’s not just off his political rocker. He’s dangerously close to defamation. And now, he either needs to show the proof or shut up. Produce the audio or move on.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.