Ever since it came to light last week that Attorney General Jeff Sessions did indeed meet with the Russian ambassador to the United States–despite Sessions saying during his confirmation hearing that he had never met with any Russians–the question swirling around the matter has been: Did Sessions perjure himself during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee?
The person who was questioning Sessions when the former Senator from Alabama lied, Minnesota Senator Al Franken, is now convinced that Sessions did indeed commit perjury. Franken told Jake Tapper on CNN:
“It’s hard to come to any other conclusion than he just perjured himself.”
Franken added that he had tried to avoid using the word “lie” in response to what Sessions told him. But a letter Sessions sent to the Judiciary Committee instead of appearing again to clarity his remarks was the last straw:
“Listen, I’ve been cutting him a lot of slack. I’ve been refusing to say that he lied. I wanted to wait for this letter to come out. It’s hard to come to any other conclusion that he just perjured himself. He answered a question that he asked himself, which is, did I meet with any Russians? And he answered it falsely. He said no. I hadn’t.”
At Tuesday’s meeting of the Judiciary Committee, GOP Chairman Chuck Grassley told Franken:
“You probably should have given him a chance to get the information you had and reflect on it, and give an answer in writing. I consider what Senator Franken asked Sessions at that late moment that that story just come out is a gotcha question!”
Franken pointedly replied:
“It can’t be a gotcha question if he didn’t answer the question. So, the thing that got him was him saying he had not met with Russians.”
The clearly overmatched Grassley then told Franken:
“It was, from the standpoint that he didn’t know what you were asking about.”
To that, Franken urged the chairman:
“Look at the tape.”
The Attorney General of the United States lied under oath. That is the very definition of perjury, no matter how you slice it or whether it was a “gotcha” question or not. Lying under oath is a felony. Jeff Sessions should either resign or be impeached. And he should be prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law. End of story.
Here’s Franken feuding with Grassley on Tuesday:
Featured Image Via YouTube
