U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify Tuesday at an open hearing before the Senate intelligence committee.
He was supposed to testify to the House and Senate appropriations committees about next year's budget for the Justice Department. Instead, his deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, will do that so Sessions can be at the intelligence hearing.
In a letter, Sessions said some members of the appropriations committees were going to ask about the investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election. But, he said the Senate intelligence committee is the best place to field those questions.
"In light of reports regarding Mr. Comey's recent testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum," Sessions wrote to Sen. Richard Shelby, who chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies.
Sessions is facing more scrutiny after former FBI Director James Comey testified on Thursday. Comey said Sessions didn't reply to his concerns about one-on-one meetings with President Donald Trump. In a closed hearing, Comey alleged Sessions may have had a third undisclosed meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
In response to Comey's testimony, Sessions issued a statement contradicting some of what Comey said. Sessions claims he did tell Comey the FBI and White House should follow proper communications protocol.
The statement also addressed Comey's claim that the DOJ didn't issue any guidance on Sessions' recusal from matters pertaining to the Russian meddling investigations. The attorney general recused himself after a Washington Post story said he didn't disclose two meetings with Kislyak during his confirmation hearing. But Sessions' statement claims he recused himself because of his ties to the Trump campaign.
Sessions is expected to be asked about those Kislyak meetings, his recusal from the Russia investigation and his involvement in Comey's firing.
