Al Franken: “I thank Senator Leahy, my good friend. New developments in the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the…”

“I thank Senator Leahy, my good friend. New developments in the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the election have, once again, raised concerns about the accuracy of statements made by Attorney General Jeff Sessions during his appearance before the Senate. In light of the Attorney General's failure to tell the truth about not just his own interactions with Russian operatives, but also the extent to which he knew about Russian contacts by other members of the Trump campaign team, I call upon Attorney General Sessions to return to the Senate Judiciary Committee and provide us with a complete and accurate accounting of the facts. There is no question that Russia--a hostile foreign power--meddled in our election. Russia carried out this attack in order to undermine confidence in American democracy, to damage Hillary Clinton's campaign for President, and to help Donald Trump. Our intelligence agencies have confirmed this to be true. But in order to keep our country safe and prevent an attack like this from happening again, the American people need to understand what happened, including whether members of the Trump campaign either participated in the Russian operation or turned a blind eye to it. We need to get to the bottom of this, and to do that, we need to know the truth.…”