Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the suggestion that he colluded with Russians in the 2016 presidential election ``is an appalling and detestable lie.''
Sessions's comments came during his Senate testimony on whether he met privately with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at an April 2016 foreign policy event at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. Sessions says he was there for a speech by then-candidate Donald Trump and members of Sessions' staff also were there.
He says the suggestion he was ``aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country which I have served for 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie.''
Sessions adds that he has no knowledge of ``any such conversations by anyone connected to the Trump campaign.''
The Attorney General also claimed he never had conversations with FBI Director James Comey about his job performance before Comey's firing.
Sessions recommended the firing last month, raising questions about whether he violated his recusal from the investigation into Trump campaign ties to Russia. But Sessions says he had concerns about Comey's job performance even before he was confirmed. He says he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein discussed it and ``we both agreed that a fresh start at the FBI was probably the best thing.''
Sessions says he was involved in Comey's firing because he oversees the FBI. Sessions added that, ``to suggest that a recusal from a single specific investigation'' would render him unable to manage the leadership of the FBI would be ``absurd.''
When questionned further about the Russia investigation, Sessions says he recused himself because he was involved in the campaign.