Jeff Sessions brands accusations of Russia collusion an 'appalling lie'

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday vehemently denied any collusion with Russia to tilt last year's election in Donald Trump's favour, branding the suggestion an "appalling and detestable lie."

In a heated hearing of the Senate intelligence committee, Sessions refused to answer questions about his discussions with Donald Trump, on the grounds that the President could claim executive privilege over those discussions at a later date.

Under persistent questioning from Democratic senators, the attorney general repeatedly claimed he could not recall details of contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

He also repeatedly refused to reveal whether he had spoken to the president regarding James Comey's handling of the probe into Russian election meddling, which the former FBI director believes to be the reason he was fired.

Over the course of more than two and a half hours, Sessions faced a hail of questions about his meetings with the Russian ambassador to Washington during the campaign, his recusal from inquiries over possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, and his role in the firing of the FBI director, James Comey.

Sessions kicked off his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee by asserting that he had "never met with or had any conversations with any Russians" about interference in the 2016 presidential race.

"I have no knowledge of any such conversations by anyone connected to the Trump campaign," he said. "The suggestion that I participated with any collusion, that I was aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country... is an appalling and detestable lie."

Sessions also pushed back against Comey's suggestion he may have failed to take appropriate steps to protect the FBI chief from political pressure.

At the conclusion of a February 14 meeting, the sacked FBI chief testified, Trump urged everyone but Comey to leave the Oval Office, including Sessions. Comey said the president then leaned on him to halt the Michael Flynn investigation.

The appearance was Sessions’ first sworn public testimony since being confirmed as attorney general in February.

Some of the most heated exchanges were over his refusal to talk, even though Trump has not invoked executive privilege. Democrats on the committee reminded Sessions he was under oath.

“You are obstructing this congressional investigation by not answering these questions,” Martin Heinrich, a Democratic senator from New Mexico, warned him.

Sessions insisted: “I am not stonewalling. I am following the historic practices of the department of justice.”

A justice department official later confirmed that “declining to answer questions at a congressional hearing about confidential conversations with the president is long-standing executive-branch-wide practice,” citing a 1982 justice department memorandum. The memorandum gives the President the right to invoke executive privilege to cover “military, diplomatic or national security secrets” and a more limited privilege in keeping law enforcement investigations secret.