TODAY JEFF SESSIONS HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE TO ANNOUNCE WHAT
HE IS GOING TO DO IN RESPONSE TO THE STORM OF SCANDAL AROUND
HIM OVER HIS HIDDEN MEETINGS WITH THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE SOME VIDEO FOR YOU AND THAT.
IN THIS FIRST ONE, LET'S LISTEN TO HIM EXPLAIN THE NEXT STEP.
IF A SPECIFIC MATTER AROSE WHERE I BELIEVE THAT MY
IMPARTIALITY MIGHT REASONABLY BE QUESTIONED, I WOULD CONSULT
WITH THE DEPARTMENT ETHICS OFFICIALS REGARDING THE
MOST APPROPRIATE WAY TO PROCEED.
THAT IS WHAT I TOLD THEM AT THE CONFIRMATION HEARING.
I HAVE NOW DECIDED TO RECUSE MYSELF FROM ANY EXISTING OR
FUTURE INVESTIGATIONS OF ANY MATTER RELATING IN ANY WAY
TO THE CAMPAIGNS OF HER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
I WENT ON TO SAY THIS ANNOUNCEMENT SHOULD NOT BE
INTERPRETED AS CONFIRMATION ON THE EXISTENCE OF ANY
INVESTIGATION OR SUGGESTIVE OF THE SCOPE OF ANY SUCH
INVESTIGATION.
THERE YOU GO THAT WE WANT TO BE VERY CAREFUL WITH HIS
LANGUAGE THERE BECAUSE IT IS INTERESTING AND AS A CENK UYGUR
HAS PUT IT UP BEFORE THERE'S A LAWYERLY SORT OF THING TO IT.
BOTH IN THAT QUOTE THERE AND I'M GOING TO REFER YOU HERE:
TAKE NOTE OF WHAT HE SAID AND WHAT HE DOESN'T SAY.
HE SAYS I HAVE DECIDED TO RECUSE MYSELF FROM ANY EXISTING OR
FUTURE INVESTIGATIONS OF ANY MATTERS RELATED IN ANY WAY
TO THE CAMPAIGNS FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
THAT IS A RECUSAL BUT IT IS NOT A RECUSAL FROM ANYTHING
HAVING TO DO WITH THE TRUMPET MINISTRATION AND RUSSIAN
OFFICIALS OR RUSSIAN BUSINESSMEN OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
ANYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH THE CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT.
THAT IS SOMETHING AND YOU MAY CONSIDER THAT PROGRESS BUT
THERE IS A LOT OF THINGS HE CAN GET INVOLVED IN THAT HE
COULD ARGUE I NEVER SAID I WOULD WAS GOING TO RECUSE MYSELF
FROM THESE THINGS.
GOOD LUCK WITH THAT.
THEY HAVE SET THEMSELVES UP IN A WEIRD SITUATION HERE.
THEY MAY HAVE TOTALLY DISPLAYED THIS.
LET ME ASK PLANE.
RIGHT NOW, SINCE HE RECUSED HIMSELF ON THOSE PARTICULAR
INVESTIGATIONS THERE IS THE ACTING DEPUTY ATTORNEY
GENERAL WHO STEPS IN AND TURNS OUT TO BE AN OBAMA APPOINTEE.
OKAY.
HE IS NOW LEADING THE INVESTIGATION.
THAT MIGHT BE GOOD ENOUGH RIGHT THERE, LET'S SEE HOW LONG THAT
LASTS BUT DEMOCRATS ARE CALLING FOR A SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR.
THE PERSON WHO WOULD NORMALLY HAVE APPOINTED THAT IS JEFF
SESSIONS, BUT THE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR WOULD NOW
PRESUMABLY BE APPOINTED BY THE OBAMA APPOINTEE, THE DEPUTY
ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL.
HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF BEING A SPECIAL COUNSELOR TO
INVESTIGATE THE MATTER WHILE HE COULD CHOOSE IT AND BEFORE
HE RECUSED HIMSELF.
THEY DON'T WANT THAT BECAUSE THEY THINK ONCE YOU GET
SOMEONE LIKE THAT IN ITS I CAN START, THEY WILL COME IN
AND TAKE UP EVERYTHING.
MAYBE, BUT THEN YOU COULD'VE PICKED TO THE GUY.
NOW IT LOOKS LIKE THE OBAMA APPOINTEE IS GOING TO HEAD
THE INVESTIGATION OR PICK THE PERSON WHO DOES.
ASSUMING THEY PLAY BY THE RULES.
AGAIN ASSUMING THEY ARE GOING TO STICK BY THIS AND NOT TO
THE LAWYERLY TRICKS THAT JOHN IS TALKING ABOUT OUR
WE BEEN TALKING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW SESSIONS IS GOING
TO TRY TO AVOID ANY FURTHER REPERCUSSIONS FOR WHAT IS
HAPPENED AND THERE'S BEEN A FEW DIFFERENT STRATEGIES.
YOU CAN SEE THE TIMELINE ONLINE.
THERE ARE A LOT OF GOOD SOURCES BREAKING THAT DOWN BUT WE
SAW LIVE THE DIFFICULTIES THAT SESSIONS IS PERSONALLY
EXPERIENCING FIGURING OUT HOW HE IS GOING TO ADDRESS THIS.
JR PUT TOGETHER A MASHUP IS HOW HE IS GOING TO ATTEMPT TO
USE THE FACT THAT HE IS THE WORST MEMORY OF ANY HUMAN
BEING ALIVE AND THAT IS GOING TO BE AS DEFENSE.
YOU GOING TO SIT ON DISPLAY IN THIS CLIP.
APPARENTLY SAYS STAFFORD TO MY OFFICE, I DID NOT SEE HIM.
I STARTED OUT BY SAYING I DON'T REMEMBER A LOT OF IT BUT I
DO REMEMBER SAYING I GONE TO RUSSIA.
I DON'T RECALL.
BUT I DON'T RECALL ANY SPECIFIC
DO YOU RECALL MEETING WITH AMBASSADOR CUSICK ANY OTHER
TIME.
I DON'T RECALL.
I DON'T RECALL AND DON'T HAVE A SENSE OF IT.
I DON'T RECALL.
HAVE YOU HAD ANY OTHER RATIONAL AND OFFICIAL SINCE
YOU ENDORSED DONALD TRUMP?
I DON'T BELIEVE SO.
I MAY, WE MADE A LOT OF PEOPLE, SO THOUGHT THANK YOU ALL.
THANK YOU.
AND HE'S OUT.
THOSE MEETINGS, ONE OF THEM HAPPENED IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE SUMMER, THE OTHER ONE HAPPEN IN SEPTEMBER.
I'VE HAD A LOT OF MEETINGS, BUSINESS MEETINGS,
POLITICAL MEETINGS, THIS WAS IN SEPTEMBER.
I MIGHT NOT RECALL THE SPECIFICS OF A PARTICULAR MEETING IN
THE MEMO OF SEPTEMBER.
I MIGHT EVEN REMEMBER PERSON I MET WITH FOR A SECOND,
REQUEST A BUT IF YOU SAID HAND SEPTEMBER YOUR MEMBER YOU
MET WITH THIS GUY GAVE ME HIS NAME AND ESSAYS THAT WOULD
BE LIKE OH YEAH, OF COURSE TIME MET WITH THEM.
DO YOU REMEMBER GENERALLY WHAT YOU GUYS TALKED ABOUT?
OF COURSE.
WE ARE HUMAN BEINGS.
UNLESS WE HAVE SOME SORT OF CLINICAL PROBLEM WITH OUR
MEMORIES SEPTEMBER OF LAST HER IS NOT THAT LONG AGO.
AFTER SHE REMEMBER ESPECIALLY IF IT WAS THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR.
AT THAT PARTICULAR TIME.
OKAY, YOU DON'T REMEMBER THE BOLIVIAN AMBASSADOR.
BIND, NOTHING AGAINST BOLIVIA.
BUT THEY DID NOT HAVE AN INTERNATIONAL SCANDAL GOING
ON DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE CAMPAIGN THAT US OR GET 4.
THERE'S ONLY ONE COUNTRY THAT DID, I THINK THAT YOU WOULD
REMEMBER IT.
ANYTIME YOU SEE THESE POLITICIANS SAY I DON'T RECALL
20 TIMES IN A ROW, THEY ARE IN A WORLD OF TROUBLE.
THAT IS A LAWYERLY ANSWER TO, IF YOU HAVE EVIDENCE ON IT, I GUESS
I WILL HAVE TO ADMIT IT LATER, BUT RIGHT NOW I AM NOT POSITIVE
YOU HAVE EVIDENT SO I WON'T SAY I DIDN'T DO IT, I WILL JUST SAY
I DON'T REMEMBER.
ONLY MET WITH THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR?
WE TALKED ABOUT THE BUSINESS STILL HE HAD WITH TRUNK
CLUSTER DID I SAY THAT ALLOWED?
UK ALL OF THESE REALLY WEIRD MOMENTS WITH THE TRUMPET
MINISTRATION WHERE EITHER ITS SEVENTH DIMENSIONAL CHESS
OR THE LACK OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN DIFFERENT TIMES OF
THE ADMINISTRATION BUT WE KNOW THERE WAS THE TALK OF THE
FULL CONFIDENCE FROM MICHAEL FLYNN RIGHT BEFORE HE
RESIGNED FROM HIS POSITION.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF VIDEO FOR YOU ON THAT.
THE QUESTION OF WHETHER HE WOULD RECUSE HIMSELF WAS ALL OVER
THE PLACE TODAY.
SEAN SPICER COMES OUT EARLY THIS MORNING AND SAYS THERE IS
NOTHING TO RECUSE HIMSELF FROM AND ANYONE WHO CALLS FOR A
SHOULD BE ASHAMED.
THEN YOU ALSO HAD TRUMP WEIGHING IN AND HE SAID THIS: SUCH
SESSIONS RECUSE HIMSELF FROM INVESTIGATIONS INTO YOUR
CAMPAIGN IN RUSSIA QUESTA
AND NO I DON'T THINK SO AT ALL.
WHEN DID YOU FIRST LINE THE SESSION SPOKE TO THE
RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR?
I DON'T THINK HE DID THAT
WINNER YOU AWARE THEY SPOKE TO THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR.
I WASN'T AWARE THAT
TO THINK YOU SHOULD'VE SPOKEN FREELY ABOUT WHETHER HE
SPOKE WITH AMBASSADOR?
HE PROBABLY DID.
THAT'S THE PRESS SECRETARY FOR THE PRESIDENT AND THE PRESIDENT
COMPLETELY ON A DIFFERENT PAGE THAN THEIR ATTORNEY GENERAL
WITHIN JUST A COUPLE HOURS OF THEM RECUSING HIMSELF.
LET'S GO OVER THE METHOD THEY HAVE.
THEY ARE NOT WINNING WITH THIS.
1ST
SESSION SAYS THAT THE CHARGES ARE UNBELIEVABLE AND FALSE.
THEN HE COMES OUT AND SAYS JUST KIDDING, I AM RECUSING MYSELF.
TRUMP, WHEN ASKED AT THE VERY END OF THAT CLIP, DO YOU
THINK HE WAS TRUTHFUL DURING THE CONFIRMATION HEARINGS?
WHETHER HE TOLD THE TRUTH AND HE SAID HE PROBABLY DID.
OKAY.
INTERESTING.
TO ME THE WORST ONE WAS SEAN SPICER.
HIS INTERVIEW WITH FOX NEWS WERE HE IS GOING TO RIP INTO
PEOPLE ASKING SESSIONS TO RECUSE HIMSELF IS GOING TO AIR
TOMORROW.
THAT IS HOW BADLY THEY MISCOMMUNICATED.
BECAUSE THEY ARE BUMBLER'S.
WHAT DID I TELL YOU?
THE NUMBER ONE THING ABOUT TRUMP IS NOT THE HATEFUL STUFF,
IT IS HIS INCOMPETENCE.
HE COULDN'T MANAGE HIS WAY OUT OF A PAPER BAG I TOLD YOU
1000 TIMES.
HERE THEY ARE WITH ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT RECUSE, SHAME.
SHAME.
OKAY AND THEN RIGHT AFTER SHE SAYS THAT AN ACTUAL GUY POP
SOUND SAYS NO, NO, NOT SHAME.
I'M RECUSING MYSELF.COM ON.
IT'S INCOMPETENCE.
THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING THAT
IS LIKE TRUNK COMES OUT AND SAYS SESSIONS HAS DONE
NOTHING WRONG SESSIONS IS ALREADY HALFWAY ACROSS
KING'S LANDING WITH BUDDY FEET.
CATCH UP MAN THOUGHT THE WILL THE GOVERNMENT ARE TURNING.
ANYWAY, WE HAVE THE LITTLE BIT OF AN UPDATE THERE.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS GOING IN THE COMING OUT OF THE KUSHNER
AND FLYNN STUFF BUT IT IS A COMPLICATED THING AND I
KNOW ONE OF THE THINGS THAT SPICER IS APPARENTLY GOING
TO SAY TOMORROW IS IT IS JUST THE DEMOCRATS.
THEY ARE TRYING TO FIND THIS STUFF.
WE DO PRODUCTION MEETINGS HERE IN A BUNCH OF PEOPLE,
DIFFERENT STORIES AND WE DON'T SPEND AN HOUR TRYING TO
FIND ANYTHING ABOUT RUSSIA.
YOU CAN GO A WEEK WITHOUT SOME RIDICULOUS THING.
IT'S NOT LIKE I GOT INVOLVED IN HIS TRANSITION TEAM AND
SAID YOU SHOULD SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE WHO
ARE THESE WEIRD, BIZARRE TIES TO RUSSIA.
WE DON'T WANT AND WE ARE LOOKING FOR THAT YOU GUYS KEEP
DISHING IT UP.
I KNOW SOME PEOPLE THINK THAT THE FIRST JOB OF A JOURNALIST AT
THIS POINT IS TO NOT DISCUSSED ANY STORY THAT INVOLVES
RUSSIA EVEN TANGENTIALLY BUT STUFF IS HAPPENING IN LAWS
ARE BEING BROKEN AND WE'RE GOING TO INVESTIGATING.
WHERE THE COP ON THE BEAT AT THIS POINT.