--- title: Jeff Sessions Testimony: Read His Opening Remarks description: Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he has no knowledge of alleged collusions President Trump's campaign and Russia canonical: https://time.com/4816986/jeff-sessions-testimony-russia-transcript/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-13T19:41:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:07:47.590Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read Jeff Sessions' Opening Remarks From His Senate Testimony og:description: He testified before the Senate intelligence committee og:url: https://time.com/4816986/jeff-sessions-testimony-russia-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3b4c786ab8d6148/6988d1780a4a22366e9ce984/jeff-sessions-senate-testimony.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Attorney General Jeff Sessions Testifies Before Senate Intelligence Committee og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Jeff Sessions' Opening Remarks From His Senate Testimony twitter:description: He testified before the Senate intelligence committee twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3b4c786ab8d6148/6988d1780a4a22366e9ce984/jeff-sessions-senate-testimony.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Jeff Sessions' Opening Remarks From His Senate Testimony by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jun 13, 2017 7:41 PM UTC  U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill June 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill June 13, 2017 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jun 13, 2017 7:41 PM UTC [Attorney General Jeff Sessions](http://time.com/4816310/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-turn-in-the-spotlight/) said he has no knowledge of alleged collusions between President Trump’s campaign and Russia during a public hearing before a Senate committee on Tuesday. “The suggestion that I participated in any collusion or that I was aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country, which I have served with honor for over 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie,” Sessions said before the [Senate intelligence committee](http://time.com/4787098/james-comey-senate-intelligence-committee-testify-donald-trump/). Sessions’ public testimony comes after former FBI director [James Comey’s congressional hearing](http://time.com/4811521/comey-testimony-bars/) before the same panel. Sessions is expected to be grilled about his role in the firing of Comey and his decision to recuse himself from the investigation into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. Read his opening remarks below. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4816986/jeff-sessions-testimony-russia-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4816986/jeff-sessions-testimony-russia-transcript/"},"headline":"Read Jeff Sessions' Opening Remarks From His Senate Testimony","datePublished":"2017-06-13T19:41:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:07:47.590Z","description":"He said any suggestion of his involvement with Russian collusion was an \"appalling and detestable lie\"","url":"https://time.com/4816986/jeff-sessions-testimony-russia-transcript/","keywords":["Senate","Jeff Sessions","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3b4c786ab8d6148/6988d1780a4a22366e9ce984/jeff-sessions-senate-testimony.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3b4c786ab8d6148/6988d1780a4a22366e9ce984/jeff-sessions-senate-testimony.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Attorney General Jeff Sessions Testifies Before Senate Intelligence Committee","caption":"Attorney General Jeff Sessions Testifies Before Senate Intelligence Committee","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/senate/","name":"Senate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4816986/jeff-sessions-testimony-russia-transcript/","name":"Read Jeff Sessions' Opening Remarks From His Senate Testimony"}}]}] ```