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Last year, Sessions told the House Judiciary Committee that "I pushed back" in 2016 when Trump's former foreign policy advisor, George Papadopoulos, proposed to hold a meeting between Trump and the Russian President Vladimir Poutine. But Papadopoulos' lawyer, in a case filed this month, said that Sessions "said the campaign should look at" a meeting of Putin-Trump – what
But the Democrats, so far, are reluctant to complain about this discrepancy – even though they strongly oppose the Sessions mandate within the Department of Justice. Democrats say that they want the sessions to remain in the work because it is excluded from the investigation of special advocate Robert Mueller, who oversees Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. A new Attorney General could take the reins and potentially reduce the risk of Mueller's investigation – or deny that Mueller's report on the investigation is ever made public, they fear.
New York Democrat Representative Jerrold Nadler, who interviewed Sessions on last year's meeting, told CNN that "now, I do not think we want to do anything" General could put the report of Mueller "in a safe" to deny make it public.
"We can not say that out loud, but we have to do it for the moment, at least," Nadler said.
The comments highlight the very unusual situation in Sessions on Capitol Hill. Democrats, who hate his strongly conservative views, particularly on immigration policy, are eager to keep him in office, while Trump and his GOP allies are actively trying to undermine it. A spokesman for House Speaker Bob Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia, did not respond to a request for comment on the sessions
Trump has always attacked and belittled his Attorney General over Sessions' decision to recuse himself, as Russia's investigation focuses on the Trump campaign, of which Sessions was the main substitute. Trump plainly said that he chose Sessions for the position because he thought he would be loyal and strongly suggested that the Attorney General be dismissed after the mid-term elections.
"Democrats, none of whom voted for Jeff Sessions, must love him now," Trump tweeted earlier this month.
Sessions was confirmed last year on a narrow vote 52-47 – with Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia as the only Democrat to support him. After revealing that he had had conversations with the Russian ambassador of the time, Sergey Kislyak, during the 2016 campaign, that he did not reveal during his confirmation, the leader of the Senate minority Chuck Schumer and other Democrats demanded his immediate resignation.
But after Sessions recused Russia's investigation, triggering Trump's fury, Schumer and other Democrats decided to take a more flexible approach with the Attorney General.
At the same time, leading Conservatives, including representatives Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan, demanded the resignation of Sessions, citing in part its challenge to the investigation in Russia. And in recent weeks, some Senate Republicans, like Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, felt that the dysfunctional relationship between Trump and Sessions was untenable.
Sessions, who testified before Congress that he thought "it would be inappropriate" at the time Mr. Papadopoulos organized the meeting with Putin, stands by his side, his lawyer told CNN.
"I mean watching sessions that we could criticize for a million things, its immigration policy is horrible, everything, its criminal justice policy is horrible," Nadler said.
But, the New York Democrat added, "At some point we'll have to go to town."
Donald Judd of CNN contributed to this report.
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