On Wednesday, written testimony by Comey about his alleged interactions with President Donald Trump was released in which the ex-director noted that he asked Sessions "prevent any future direct communication" between Trump and himself after the two shared a private dinner on January 27 and a one-on-one Oval Office meeting on February 14 that Comey found to be "inappropriate".
Tuesday's hearing has been scheduled for 14:30 local time (18:30 GMT). It wasn't until mid-morning Monday that it was announced that the hearing would be public.
As attorney general, Sessions is unlikely to answer in detail questions about conversations he's had with Trump. Rosenstein said he has seen no evidence of good cause to fire the special prosecutor overseeing the Russian Federation investigation. Trump is scheduled to spend the weekend at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.
Those calls have escalated since fired FBI director Mr Comey cryptically told senators last week that the bureau had expected Mr Sessions to recuse himself weeks before he did from the investigation into contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russian Federation during the 2016 presidential election.
Sessions in March removed himself from involvement in any probe into alleged Russian election meddling but maintained he did nothing wrong by failing to disclose that he met past year with Russia's ambassador.
And if not, why did Sessions agree to leave the president alone with someone who was technically his subordinate - the Federal Bureau of Investigation is part of the Justice Department - for a discussion that would have been within his purview?
Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify at a public hearing of the Senate intelligence committee Tuesday afternoon, the committee said in a statement.
It's all led to a critical question of when and if Sessions will cite privilege - used by presidents to block testimony before Congress by their aides on certain topics. The White House has denied any collusion with Moscow. Why would Comey think Sessions was going to recuse himself?
Trump proposal aims at another way of getting people to work
Sessions' appearance before the intelligence committee is an indication of just how much the Russian Federation investigation has shaded his tenure.
JOHNSON: Yeah. The attorneys general for Washington, D.C., and Maryland tell The Washington Post they're planning to sue the president for violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution, that language that says the president can't accept gifts from foreign governments, though state AGs say they're in a better position to sue than some private actors because the convention centers in their states are actually losing out to Trump hotels and Trump resorts.
"I have a recollection of him just kind of looking at me", Comey testified. The next day, Sessions recused himself from the Russian Federation investigation and said it would be overseen by his deputy attorney general, who last month appointed a special counsel to handle the probe.
But officials said Sessions's relationship with Trump has been strained since the attorney general recused himself from the Russian Federation probe in March.
President Donald Trump smiles during a Cabinet meeting, Monday, June 12, 2017, in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington.
The White House has already acknowledged that Sessions will not hesitate to invoke executive privilege, which may limit knowledge-sharing quite a bit.
In a questionnaire, Sessions was also asked: "Several of the President-Elect's nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties". The Justice Department has denied that, saying Mr Sessions stressed to Mr Comey the need to be careful about following appropriate policies. On Saturday, he wrote the chairmen of both committees and said he was sending his deputy attorney general to testify in his place. James Lankford of Oklahoma, "releasing his memos is not damaging to national security". And why did you fail to provide information about the meetings you had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on your security clearance form? But: "I think there's absolutely evidence to begin a case".
Trump's personal lawyer also challenged Comey's account, saying the president never asked for the investigation to be dropped.
Comments