The attorney general came ready to defend his honor.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions spent three hours passionately pushing back against suggestions that he might have colluded with the Russians during the 2016 election.
But Sessions offered a tough defense, and started by sharply dismissing the deeper Democratic suspicion: that he was colluding with Russia during and after the election.
“The suggestion that I participated in any collusion, that I was aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country, which I have served with honor for 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our Democratic process is an appalling and detestable lie,” he said in his opening statement.