Franken: Sessions Should Come Before Senate Committee And ‘Explain Himself’

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee member Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, during the committee's executive session on the nomination Educati... Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee member Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, during the committee's executive session on the nomination Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) MORE LESS
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Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) said Sunday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should come back before the Senate Judiciary Committee and explain why he previously denied having contact with Russian officials.

“He needs to answer some questions,” Franken told Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week.”

In response to a question from Franken during his confirmation hearing in January, Sessions said that he “did not have communications with the Russians.”

Amid revelations that he had contact with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before the election, Sessions recused himself on Thursday from an investigation into ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia.

“I would like to give him some benefit of the doubt. He needs to come back before the committee and explain this,” Franken said on Sunday.

“I don’t want to go there and definitively say we should be prosecuting the attorney general,” he added. “But I think the attorney general owes it to the Judiciary Committee to come back and explain himself.”

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