[国会记录卷163，第37（星期四，2017年3月2日）] [参] [页数S1548-S1563]，要求一种特殊的法律顾问莱希的任命。每天，我们更多地了解俄罗斯政府和两个特朗普总统的政府和他的竞选，但昨晚那种突破一切的困扰连接 - 一个启示总统竞选的高度，期间总检察长会议会见俄罗斯官员，这引起报警的一个新的水平。其中一个原因是，我们现在知道总检察长，宣誓，误导了参议院司法委员会在回应我关于他与俄罗斯官员接触直接的问题。我问当时的参议员会议，如果他有[[页S1549]一直在与连接到俄罗斯政府的有关2016年选举的任何部分人接触。他的回答是毫不含糊的。他说不。他提供了一个类似的误导回应参议员弗兰肯，他说，他的竞选王牌和俄罗斯政府之间任何连接的是``不知道'。尤其是我们这些谁是律师，谁都有机会担任总检察长或在我们的国家检察官，知道这是异乎寻常的破坏公众信任的是总检察长会议并没有从本次调查审理该案。我想大家会同意他撤换自己。 Of course, as this goes on, the question now arises: Has he perjured himself? In response to these reports, the Attorney General claims that he ``never met Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign.'' That is a wholly inadequate response. The Attorney General was a top adviser to the Trump campaign. He took a private, undisclosed meeting with the Russian Ambassador during the height of concerns about Russian involvement in our election. Think about it. There are reports everywhere about concerns about Russian involvement in the election of the United States, and he has an undisclosed meeting with the Russian Ambassador. He also met with the Russian Ambassador during an event at the Republican National Convention. One would think, at the Republican National Convention, it is possible that politics might be discussed. Now, if the Attorney General thinks his explanation is sufficient after he misled Congress about these contacts, of course, he is mistaken. I don't say that as a Democrat. I think everybody would agree to that. What I worry about is that the Attorney General is only the latest Trump administration official who has attempted to mask his contacts with the Kremlin. The President's first National Security Advisor lied to the Vice President about his communications with the Russian Ambassador. He only resigned after the media reported how he had lied to Vice President Pence, and even that was weeks after the President had been informed. He had to leave only when it became public. The President's Chief of Staff attempted to use the FBI--which, of course, would be in violation of Justice Department policies--to suppress news reports about Russian contacts. I have been here through seven previous Presidents-- Republicans and Democrats. You would assume they would play by the rules. This administration seems to want to make up the rules. My concern is not just what the administration might be doing; my concern is about Russia. We are, I believe strongly, the greatest democracy history has known. We are the longest existing democracy in history, and now we have Russia meddling and trying to undermine our democracy. Every American should worry about that. Every American should be frightened, not just concerned but frightened. It is an attack on our democracy. This is one of the most disturbing national security challenges facing our country. Russian President Putin ordered a multifaceted campaign that was aimed at helping Donald Trump win and undermining public faith in our election. That should alarm and outrage everybody no matter what party one belongs to. We didn't hear a word about it in the President's speech on Tuesday during the joint session of Congress. In fact, the President's only reaction has been to disparage American investigators, to disparage the intelligence community, to cast journalists who report on this as ``enemies of the American people.'' Journalists are not enemies of the American people. Russia is the enemy of the American people. Putin is the enemy of the American people. Do not cast our journalists, do not cast our investigators, do not cast our intelligence people, do not cast those who dare speak out as being enemies of America. Point to the real enemies--Vladimir Putin and those he controls. It is about time we take this seriously. I have been here 42 years. I have never seen such a perfidious threat to our democracy than what we are seeing in Vladimir Putin, and my concern is the administration does not call it out for what it is. We Americans deserve to know the facts. We deserve a full and fair investigation. We deserve one that is free from any political influence. I have repeatedly called on Attorney General Sessions, who was one of President Trump's top advisers during the campaign, to recuse himself and appoint a special counsel to conduct the investigation. Earlier this week, he said: ``I would recuse myself on anything that I should recuse myself on.'' This morning, he said he would recuse himself ``whenever it's appropriate.'' This would be a ludicrous response from a law clerk at the Department of Justice. From the Attorney General, it is dissembling. Recusal is not optional here. It is required by very clear Justice Department regulations. It is required to maintain at least a semblance of integrity in this investigation. The Attorney General has to recuse himself because, as stated clearly in Department rules, he is obviously ``closely identified'' with the President due to his ``service as a principal adviser.'' That is the rule, and that is the rule whether it is a Republican or a Democratic administration. It describes his relationship with the President. The investigation has to be led by someone who, in reality and in appearance, is impartial and removed from politics. That does not describe someone who was in the trenches of a political campaign with the subjects of the investigation while they were allegedly engaged in the very activity under investigation. It does not describe somebody who misled Congress--who misled the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee--about his own activities that have been implicated in the investigation. This is not a close call. We know Russia is doing everything to undermine our democracy. Let's stand up for America. Let's do what is best for our country. The Attorney General should start by stepping aside. Then what we need is an independent investigation, and we need answers. I thank the distinguished senior Senator from Alaska for her indulgence. I yield the floor. [...] The Attorney General Mr. PERDUE. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in defense of a dear colleague of ours who is now the Attorney General of our Nation, Jeff Sessions. He is my friend. More importantly, he is a former colleague of this very body. He is a man of integrity. He is a man of principle. I trust him, and I take him at his word. Furthermore, he has repeatedly said just today that he will, in fact, recuse himself if and when it becomes appropriate. In my opinion, it is not appropriate right now, but if it ever were to become appropriate, he has said, without hesitation, that he would. I have really never witnessed anything quite like this in my brief time here in the Senate. The last 2 years have been very interesting, but never have I seen the hypocrisy that we see going on around this one issue. It is increasingly clear that the minority party is singularly focused on sabotaging this new administration at every turn, and today is no exception. They have exercised procedural rules in the Senate time and again, beyond the intent of the Founders' design, in order to stop President Trump from even getting his team in place--his very Cabinet. Our President today, as we stand here in this well, cannot have a staff meeting because he doesn't have all of his Cabinet members in place. As for the Cabinet members who have been confirmed, the minority party seems equally fixated on finding any red herring they can ultimately find to undermine the individual's character. We have literally reached the point where Members of this body are slandering former colleagues for having and taking the same opportunities afforded to them. This morning, my colleague, the senior Senator from Missouri, tweeted that she had never, ``EVER'' met with or taken a call from the Russian Ambassador. But her own Twitter account proved that she has at least twice in the last 4 years. Thirty Members of this body, as a matter of fact, met with a Russian Ambassador and Ambassadors from other nations in 2015 for a sales pitch on President Obama's deal with Iran. Many of them, including the senior Senator from Missouri, were open supporters at that time of candidates in the President's race. In the process of this hypocrisy, the minority party is prohibiting us from taking action on legislation that would solve many of the problems that have manifested themselves over the previous 8 years. Make no mistake, Russia is a traditional rival whose actions pose a definite threat to global security and even our own security here at home. Their actions over the last 8 years have helped destabilize Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It was the inaction and refusal to lead of the past administration--a policy that the minority party followed hook, line, and sinker--that created a power vacuum around the world and allowed this Russian resurgence. I have said this repeatedly, and I am going to continue to do so. Until there is definite proof that Russians changed a single vote from Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump, I will be focused on one thing; that is, doing exactly what the American people sent us here to do. I encourage my colleagues to do the same, which is to not engage in political theater for the sake of partisan politics, but to work together to get America back to work. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas. [...] Calling for the Appointment of a Special Counsel Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, in the minutes remaining before this vote, I want to briefly call attention to an impending constitutional crisis we are facing in this Chamber and in this country as a result of recent revelations coming to our attention, literally within the last 24 hours, about contacts between now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, our former colleague, and the Russian Ambassador. Nearly 2 months ago, my Judiciary colleagues and I were told by then- Senator Sessions--and the Presiding Officer is on the Judiciary Committee. We were told in no uncertain terms that he ``did not have communications with the Russians,'' and we took him at his word. Last night, we learned that Senator Sessions' statement was inaccurate. These inaccurate, possibly intentionally false, statements misled us. They misled me, personally, and I feel they failed to provide the whole truth about his communications with and ties to the Russians, likely on behalf of the Trump campaign. These contacts were in the midst of an unprecedented attack on our democracy, an act of cyber warfare against our democratic institution that not only violated our law but subverted our electoral process. The potentially false statements on this topic by then-Senator Sessions were not only deeply relevant and critically important in their own right, but they leave us with the question: What else is missing or misleading in that testimony, and the consequential questions about his fitness to lead the Department of Justice must be answered. Unless Attorney General Sessions can provide a credible explanation, his resignation will be necessary. Senator Sessions' false statements heighten my deep concern about credible allegations that the Trump campaign, the transition team, and the administration officials have colluded with the Russian Government, not only in actions prior to the election but possibly since then in what may amount to a coverup. Unless the whole truth is uncovered--and if there is a coverup, truly the adage will be fulfilled that the coverup is as bad as the crime. The only way to deter Russian aggression and continued cyber attacks on our democracy is to uncover the truth and deter this kind of aggression in the future. At the time of his meetings with the Russian Ambassador, Senator Sessions was chairman of the Trump campaign's National Security Advisory Committee. Ambassador Kislyak is, of course, the same individual whose repeated covert contacts with former LTG Michael Flynn, President Trump failed to disclose both to the American public and to his own Vice President. General Flynn's failure to make those disclosures led to his own termination as National Security Advisor. Contacts between these two men would raise concerns under any circumstances, but Senator Sessions' decision to, in effect, conceal them makes them even more troubling. I use that word with regret because I sat in the committee hearing as he answered those questions, and, personally, I can reach no other conclusion than to say he must have intended to conceal them and hide them from us as committee members. The Attorney General, who is the most important law enforcement official in our country, must be held to an even higher standard. The sudden disclosure that he met repeatedly with the Russian Ambassador after denying under oath any such contact, gives us all the more reason--indeed compelling evidence--that a special counsel is necessary, and necessary now, to investigate Russian ties and contacts with the Trump campaign. I have called for such a special counsel or prosecutor for weeks now and led a letter with more than 10 of my colleagues asking that Attorney General Sessions designate such a special prosecutor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired. Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak 2 more minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I reserve the right to object. I want to make sure we do have locked in at 1:45 a vote on confirmation of Rick Perry to be Secretary of Energy. The PRESIDING OFFICER. We do. Ms. MURKOWSKI. As long as I still have about a minute prior to that vote, I have no objection. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Mr. BLUMENTHAL. I will end my remarks within a minute. [[Page S1563]] In short, over the past weeks, I have called repeatedly for a special counsel. My view is that now-Attorney General Sessions must be brought back before the Judiciary Committee and provide an explanation. The lack of a credible explanation makes his resignation necessary, and his denial of contacts raises serious and troubling questions about the process that led to his confirmation. Absent swift action by a special counsel, evidence of this troubling conduct will be at high risk of concealment by the very agency, the Department of Justice, entrusted by the American people to seek and uncover the truth. An impartial, objective, comprehensive, and thorough investigation by a special prosecutor is unquestionably necessary now, and I hope we will have bipartisan support for it. I yield the floor. [...]