The Hill says that Mitch McConnell has invited the deputy attorney general to address the senate next week at the request of the Democrats and that's just the beginning; Chuck Schumer says Jeff Sessions has to address the senate as well, regarding the Comey firing.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that the deputy attorney general has been asked to brief the entire Senate next week in the wake of FBI Director James Comey's firing.
"I've just heard from the majority leader that he will invite Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to an all senators briefing next week. ... It is a good first step, and I thank the majority leader for consenting to this request," Schumer said from the Senate floor.
Don Stewart, a spokesman for Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said Rosenstein has already been meeting with lawmakers and "has made himself available to the leadership as well."
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"So the leader is working on scheduling a briefing for all members from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Once we have more information we’ll be sure to make an announcement," he said in response to a question about Schumer's comments.
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Schumer noted that Rosenstein offered to meet with him while he was on Capitol Hill on Thursday, but Schumer stressed that the No. 2 Justice Department official needed to meet with all senators.
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"I said I wanted to meet with him along with my 99 colleagues so that members of both parties were given the opportunity to question him," he said.
[...]
Schumer publicly asked McConnell to respond by the end of Thursday to his request that Rosenstein and Attorney General
Jeff Sessions meet in separate closed-door briefings with senators after President Trump's
shocking decision this week to fire Comey.
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Schumer reiterated early Thursday evening that Democrats still want Sessions to come speak with them. Democrats have homed in on Sessions since Comey's firing, questioning his involvement with the decision because he previously recused himself from any involvement in investigations tied to Russia's role in the 2016 campaign.
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"Attorney General Sessions must be made available to the Senate in a similar capacity given his reported role in firing Director Comey and helping select his replacement, considering his recusal from the Russia investigation, his close involvement in these events warrants the Senate's questioning as well," he said.
The optics on this are interesting. Let us hope that the “homing in on Sessions" is not just limited to discussing the firing of Comey. It is devoutly to be hoped that the underlying, burning issue of the Trump-Russia connection is brought up in any questioning of Rosenstein or Sessions, particularly Sessions. That’s the elephant in the room and its time to stop side stepping it politely. It’s time to walk right up to it and ask it to dance.