JUSTICE
Sessions Lied Repeatedly Under Oath On Topics That ‘Strongly’ Point To Russian Collusion: Seth Abramson
After watching today’s testimony, attorney and former criminal investigator Seth Abramson says that Attorney General Jeff Sessions “lied repeatedly — under oath — on topics that STRONGLY point toward collusion with Russia.”
And as always, he breaks it all down for us here:
(1) NONE of the collusion allegations leveled against the Trump campaign, transition, and administration involve aiding Russia with hacking.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(2) ALL of the collusion allegations compiled by MI6-derived HUMINT—and now under investigation by the FBI and Congress—involve SANCTIONS.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(3) The allegations against Trump/his allies are simple: after knowing the Russians were hacking us, they promised Russia to drop sanctions.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(4) A promise made to a geopolitical enemy THEN WAGING CYBERWAR against America that it would be REWARDED for doing so is per se COLLUSION.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(5) Under oath, Sessions repeatedly MISIDENTIFIED the allegations against him and Trump as involving aiding the Russians in their HACKING.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(6) It was on these grounds, and no others, that Sessions was able to—and did—angrily DENOUNCE allegations of collusion against Team Trump.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(7) This is WHY the KEY issue at the hearing was Sessions' SECRET meetings with Russia. The question: did he discuss sanctions with Kislyak?
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(8) On this topic—THE key topic of the hearing—every answer Sessions gave to Congress (under oath) was a lie. I'll now enumerate these lies.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(9) (i) Sessions initially said he had no "side or private meetings" with Russian Ambassador Kislyak at the Mayflower Hotel in April 2016.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(10) This is a LIE. Sessions soon *admitted it*, conceding he had an "encounter" with Kislyak at a "private" function before Trump's speech.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(11) (ii) Sessions then said he couldn't remember any of the *content* of his "encounter" with Kislyak at the Mayflower Hotel in April 2016.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(12) This is a LIE. Sessions told the Committee he didn't discuss anything improper with Kislyak—which means that he REMEMBERED the meeting.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(13) (Sessions also had *no* difficulty remembering the content of his OTHER meetings with Kislyak, in fact describing them in some detail.)
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(14) (iii) Sessions—who was head of Trump's Foreign Policy team beginning in February—said he WASN'T at the Mayflower as a Trump surrogate.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(15) This is a LIE. Sessions was not, as he claims, merely an "interested party" at the Mayflower Speech—he was PART of the Trump campaign.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(16) (iv) Sessions implied that the VIP meeting at the Mayflower Hotel was a brief affair in which no more than pleasantries were exchanged.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(17) This is a LIE. The VIP cocktail hour CNI sponsored was as long as you'd expect—one hour—and had just 24 attendees (mostly Trump staff).
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(18) (v) Sessions claims to have *no knowledge whatsoever* of any conversations anyone had with Kislyak at the Mayflower Hotel—or afterward.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(19) This is a LIE. As Trump's chief foreign policy guru—the head of his FP team—Sessions knew OTHERS besides HIM were meeting with Kislyak.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(20) But HERE is the smoking gun—merely a REPETITION of something Sessions has said before—which is that he DID talk sanctions with Kislyak.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(21) Sessions and Trump found out in JULY that Russia was waging cyberwar on America; WEEKS LATER Sessions met with Kislyak about sanctions.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(22) Sessions BROKE PROTOCOL: he took no notes at the meeting; did not report it; failed to disclose it on forms; then hid it from Congress.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(23) But today Sessions made a key ERROR: he admitted that he discussed SANCTIONS with Kislyak but did NOT discuss Russian election hacking.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(24) Either the AG DID discuss hacking—and perjured himself today—or he negotiated sanctions policy w/ Russia WITHOUT acknowledging hacking.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(25) What we DO know is that at all points after Summer 2016 Russia appeared to be CERTAIN that Trump would DROP all sanctions against them.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(26) We DO know, from recent public reporting, that IMMEDIATELY upon taking office Trump moved to end sanctions and was blocked by the DoS.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(27) Sessions SUDDENLY is ABLE to remember WHO he met the day before—Ukraine—WHAT he discussed with Kislyak, and even the discussion's TONE.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(28) Did Sessions' Mayflower "encounter" with Kislyak involve sanctions talk? Even a "let's talk about sanctions later on"? Like at the RNC?
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(29) Because we KNOW Sessions talked with Kislyak about sanctions AT LEAST twice, with one of the times being at the Republican Convention.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(30) Did Sessions organize hacking? Spearhead a quid pro quo? No. No one ever said he did. But we now know he DID DO exactly what we feared.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(PS) Eventually Dems will wake up and realize ALL questions to Sessions (outside Obstruction queries) should focus on KISLYAK and SANCTIONS.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(PS2) But after today they must focus EVEN MORE on April 27th, 2016—as Sessions didn't give ONE honest answer under oath on that KEY topic.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(PS3) Flynn and Kushner's conversations w/ Kislyak in December included REASSURANCES about Trump's commitment to a favorable Russia policy.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(PS4) HOW did Kislyak KNOW Trump's Russia policy? How was he ASSURED it would be pro-Russia? By Trump's chief foreign policy guru: Sessions.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(PS5) So what was said today by Sessions—and what was LIED about—only DEEPENS America's basis to believe there was a side deal on sanctions.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(PS6) Attorneys note the small details defendants really WANT them to hear; they tend to be misdirections. What Sessions HARPED on…(cont.)
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(PS7) …and it was the only thing ALL DAY he was VERY SPECIFIC about, was that his September meeting with Kislyak was CONTENTIOUS. WAS it?
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(PS8) Sessions is worried he'll be asked if he assured Kislyak on Trump's Russia policy in September, so he ODDLY PRE-ATTACKS that question.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(PS9) This is what I mean about how longtime criminal attorneys and investigators like me think: when we see a PREEMPTIVE STRIKE, we NOTICE.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
(PS10) Senators, I *guarantee* Sessions' weak points are a) sanctions, b) what he told TRUMP on Kislyak meetings, c) that September meeting.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 13, 2017
