Attorney General Jeff Sessions is sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
WASHINGTON — The Latest on Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee (all times local):
10:50 a.m.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions told senators he won’t discuss “confidential” conversations he had with President Donald Trump.
Sessions told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee during an opening statement of his oversight hearing Wednesday that the president is entitled to have private conversations with Cabinet secretaries.
Members of the committee have told Sessions that they intend to press him on his conversations with Trump, particularly about the firing in May of FBI Director James Comey.
At a separate hearing in June, Sessions told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he would not disclose his communications with Trump.
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10:25 a.m.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is defending the Trump administration’s travel ban as an important tool in fighting terrorism.
Speaking Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he defended the legality of an executive order that seeks to block the travel to the U.S. of citizens of Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, as well as some Venezuelan government officials and their families.
In his opening statement, Sessions says “the order is lawful, necessary, and we are proud to defend it.”
He says he is confident that the Justice Department will prevail in its effort to defend and enforce the ban.
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3:45 a.m.
Democratic senators plan to press Attorney General Jeff Sessions about his private communications with the president when he appears to answer questions before a Senate committee.
Sessions will testify to the Judiciary Committee Wednesday for the first time since his January confirmation. He’ll face questions about his swift reversals of Obama-era protections for transgender people and criminal justice policies. But lawmakers are also expected to ask about the investigation into Trump campaign connections to Russia. Sessions recused himself from that probe, a decision that still frustrates President Donald Trump.
Democratic senators want Sessions to detail his conversations with Trump or announce that Trump is invoking executive privilege to shield them. At a different committee hearing in June, Sessions refused to discuss his talks with Trump, pointing to longstanding Justice tradition.
Oct 18 10:53 AM EDT
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