US AG to testify before Senate intelligence panel

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has confirmed that he will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee next week to testify over his dealings with Russian officials, the media reported.

Sessions on Saturday said he would appear in response to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey's testimony to the panel that took place on Thursday.

Sessions had been scheduled to testify on June 13 before the House and Senate subcommittees that oversee his department's budget, but will now testify to the intelligence panel instead, he said on Saturday in letters to the chairmen of those subcommittees, reports CNN.

"In light of reports regarding Mr. Comey's recent testimony, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum," Sessions wrote.

"Some members have publicly stated their intention to focus their questions on issues related to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, from which I have recused, and for which the deputy attorney general appointed a special counsel."

"The Senate Intelligence Committee is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant, classified information," he added.

However, it was not immediately clear if he would testify in public or private.

Sessions recused himself from overseeing the federal Russia probe three months ago after The Washington Post reported on a pair of undisclosed meetings Sessions had during the campaign with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the US.

During his televised testimony on Thursday, Comey that Sessions, a former senator from Alabama, may have had additional contacts with Russians, and said in a closed hearing that investigators had received Russian intercepts detailing a possible third meeting between Sessions and Kislyak, CNN reported.

But federal investigators have not confirmed the meeting happened, and the Justice Department has denied it occurred.

--IANS

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