5 Reactions to Jeff Sessions' Testimony on Trump and Russia

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Wednesday, June 14, 2017

2. USA Today

United States Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey is sworn in to testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on 'Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation' on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 3, 2017. | REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The editorial board of USA Today was critical of Sessions' testimony, stating in a column published Tuesday that the Attorney General was "unconvincing."

While writing that the Democrats "failed to land any knockout blows," the editors also concluded that Sessions failed to effectively undermine the earlier testimony of former FBI Director James Comey.

"Sessions often came across as forgetful, testy and defensive, his testimony sprinkled with the 'do not recalls' that reek of the lawyerly way public officials often evade accusations in Washington," said the editors.

"And if Republicans were looking for Sessions to undercut Comey's powerful testimony on the key issue — that the president asked Comey to end a criminal investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn — they were surely disappointed. Only around the edges did Sessions disagree with Comey's compelling account."