<p>US President Donald Trump said relations with Russia had hit an all-time and &quot;very dangerous&quot; low Thursday, putting the blame on Congress after he reluctantly approved sanctions against Moscow.<br />
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&quot;Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time &amp; very dangerous low,&quot; Trump wrote on Twitter.</p>

<p>&quot;You can thank Congress, the same people that can&#39;t even give us HCare!&quot;, he added in reference to a recent defeat in the Senate on his health care reform plans.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time &amp; very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can&#39;t even give us HCare!</p>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/893083735633129472">August 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Trump&#39;s outburst came the day after he grudgingly signed off on a sanctions bill that had been passed by Congress, calling the legislation &quot;significantly flawed&quot; and arguing that some of its provisions were unconstitutional.<br />
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The legislation -- which also includes measures against North Korea and Iran -- targets the Russian energy sector, giving Washington the ability to sanction companies involved in developing Russian pipelines, and placing curbs on some Russian weapons exporters.<br />
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It also constrains Trump`s ability to waive the penalties, a statement of mistrust from the Republican-controlled Congress.<br />
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Moscow has reacted furiously to the sanctions, with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev saying they amounted to a &quot;full-fledged economic war&quot; and that they had demonstrated Trump`s &quot;total weakness.&quot;<br />
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Trump&#39;s presidency has been overshadowed by allegations that his campaign team colluded with Moscow during last year`s US presidential campaign in which he defeated Hillary Clinton.</p>

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Trump's outburst came the day after he grudgingly signed off on a sanctions bill that had been passed by Congress

US President Donald Trump said relations with Russia had hit an all-time and "very dangerous" low Thursday, putting the blame on Congress after he reluctantly approved sanctions against Moscow. "Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low," Trump wrote on Twitter. "You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!", he added in reference to a recent defeat in the Senate on his health care reform plans. Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2017 × Trump's outburst came the day after he grudgingly signed off on a sanctions bill that had been passed by Congress, calling the legislation "significantly flawed" and arguing that some of its provisions were unconstitutional. The legislation -- which also includes measures against North Korea and Iran -- targets the Russian energy sector, giving Washington the ability to sanction companies involved in developing Russian pipelines, and placing curbs on some Russian weapons exporters. It also constrains Trump`s ability to waive the penalties, a statement of mistrust from the Republican-controlled Congress. Moscow has reacted furiously to the sanctions, with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev saying they amounted to a "full-fledged economic war" and that they had demonstrated Trump`s "total weakness." Trump's presidency has been overshadowed by allegations that his campaign team colluded with Moscow during last year`s US presidential campaign in which he defeated Hillary Clinton.

Russia ties at all-time and 'very dangerous low', laments President Trump

<p>US Attorney General&nbsp;Jeff&nbsp;Sessions on Tuesday denounced as &quot;an appalling and detestable lie&quot; the idea he colluded with Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign but refused to answer a series of questions during a high-stakes Senate hearing.</p>

<p>Sessions, a senior member of Republican President Donald Trump&#39;s Cabinet and an adviser to his presidential campaign, faced criticism from Democratic senators for declining to answer their questions relating to conversations he had with Trump.</p>

<p>Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich accused Sessions of violating his vow to tell the full truth. He told Sessions: &ldquo;You&rsquo;re impeding this investigation.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sessions dodged questions about were whether he had discussed FBI director James Comey&#39;s handling of the FBI&#39;s Russia probe with Trump before the president fired Comey on May 9. Similarly, he did not answer whether Trump had expressed concern to Sessions about the attorney general&#39;s March decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I questioned Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The American people don&rsquo;t deserve evasion - we deserve the truth. <a href="https://t.co/rIcE6ATDcl">pic.twitter.com/rIcE6ATDcl</a></p>
&mdash; Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenKamalaHarris/status/874778688906174465">June 14, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Democratic Senator Ron Wyden told Sessions, &quot;I believe the American people have had it with stonewalling. Americans don&#39;t want to hear that answers to relevant questions are privileged.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;I am not stonewalling,&quot; Sessions replied. &quot;I am following the historic policies of the Department of Justice.&quot; Sessions said he would not discuss confidential communications with the president.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Before Sen Harris was rudely interrupted, she absolutely crushed <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JeffSessions?src=hash">#JeffSessions</a>&ndash;&ndash;who was not prepared to answer the majority of questions. <a href="https://t.co/0ZM0KucWFr">pic.twitter.com/0ZM0KucWFr</a></p>
&mdash; Jezebel (@Jezebel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jezebel/status/874734053152493568">June 13, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Senator Angus King, an independent, questioned Sessions&#39; legal basis for refusing to answer. Sessions said Trump had not invoked executive privilege regarding the conversations.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Executive privilege is a power that can be claimed by a president or senior executive branch officials to withhold information from Congress or the courts to protect the executive branch decision-making process.</p>

<p>US&nbsp;intelligence agencies concluded in a report released in January that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to interfere in the election to help Trump in part by hacking and releasing damaging emails about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.</p>

<p>The testimony by Sessions marked the latest chapter in a saga that has dogged the Republican Trump&#39;s first five months as president and distracted from his domestic policy agenda including major healthcare and tax cut initiatives.</p>

<p>&quot;I have never met with or had any conversation with any Russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election in the United States. Further, I have no knowledge of any such conversations by anyone connected with the Trump campaign,&quot; Sessions said.</p>

<p>&quot;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 honour for over 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>Sessions is the most senior member of Trump&#39;s administration caught up in the controversy over whether associates of the president colluded with Russia to help Trump win the election.</p>

<p><strong>Special Counsel</strong></p>

<p>Even before Sessions testified, attention in Washington swivelled to whether Trump might seek to fire Robert Mueller, named last month by the Justice Department to head a federal probe into the Russia issue.</p>

<p>Sessions told the senators that he has confidence in Mueller but said he had &quot;no idea&quot; if Trump did because he had not spoken to the president about the matter. Asked whether he would ever take any action to remove Mueller, Sessions said, &quot;I would not think that would be appropriate for me to do.&quot;</p>

<p>Such a move would be complicated and potentially politically explosive. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the person who would be responsible for carrying out any such dismissal, told a different congressional panel on Tuesday he would not fire Mueller without good cause and he had seen no such cause.</p>

<p>Sessions, a former Republican US&nbsp;senator and an early supporter of Trump&#39;s presidential campaign, appeared before the committee just five days after Comey told the panel Trump ousted him to undermine the agency&#39;s investigation of the Russia matter. Sessions had written a letter to Trump recommending Comey&#39;s firing.</p>

<p>In March he acknowledged he met twice last year with Russia&#39;s ambassador to Washington, Sergei Kislyak. Sessions said he did not mislead Congress because the encounters were part of his job as a US&nbsp;senator, not as a Trump campaign representative. But Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation in March after the revelations of the two Kislyak meetings.</p>

<p>The abrupt dismissal of Comey prompted Trump&#39;s critics to charge that the president was trying to interfere with a criminal investigation.</p>

<p>Asked about media reports that he had met with Kislyak on a third occasion at a Washington hotel last year, Sessions testified that did not remember meeting or having a conversation with the ambassador at the event. Sessions said he &quot;racked my brain&quot; and had no meeting with any Russian in his capacity as a Trump campaign adviser.</p>

<p>Sessions said he did not recuse himself because he felt he was a subject of the investigation himself but rather because he felt he was required to by Justice Department rules.</p>


US Attorney General Sessions is the most senior member of Trump's administration caught up in the Trump-Russia probes

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday denounced as "an appalling and detestable lie" the idea he colluded with Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign but refused to answer a series of questions during a high-stakes Senate hearing. Sessions, a senior member of Republican President Donald Trump's Cabinet and an adviser to his presidential campaign, faced criticism from Democratic senators for declining to answer their questions relating to conversations he had with Trump. Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich accused Sessions of violating his vow to tell the full truth. He told Sessions: “You’re impeding this investigation.” Sessions dodged questions about were whether he had discussed FBI director James Comey's handling of the FBI's Russia probe with Trump before the president fired Comey on May 9. Similarly, he did not answer whether Trump had expressed concern to Sessions about the attorney general's March decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. I questioned Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The American people don’t deserve evasion - we deserve the truth. pic.twitter.com/rIcE6ATDcl — Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) June 14, 2017 × Democratic Senator Ron Wyden told Sessions, "I believe the American people have had it with stonewalling. Americans don't want to hear that answers to relevant questions are privileged." "I am not stonewalling," Sessions replied. "I am following the historic policies of the Department of Justice." Sessions said he would not discuss confidential communications with the president. Before Sen Harris was rudely interrupted, she absolutely crushed #JeffSessions––who was not prepared to answer the majority of questions. pic.twitter.com/0ZM0KucWFr — Jezebel (@Jezebel) June 13, 2017 × Senator Angus King, an independent, questioned Sessions' legal basis for refusing to answer. Sessions said Trump had not invoked executive privilege regarding the conversations. Executive privilege is a power that can be claimed by a president or senior executive branch officials to withhold information from Congress or the courts to protect the executive branch decision-making process. US intelligence agencies concluded in a report released in January that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to interfere in the election to help Trump in part by hacking and releasing damaging emails about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The testimony by Sessions marked the latest chapter in a saga that has dogged the Republican Trump's first five months as president and distracted from his domestic policy agenda including major healthcare and tax cut initiatives. "I have never met with or had any conversation with any Russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election in the United States. Further, I have no knowledge of any such conversations by anyone connected with the Trump campaign," Sessions said. "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 honour for over 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie," he said. Sessions is the most senior member of Trump's administration caught up in the controversy over whether associates of the president colluded with Russia to help Trump win the election. Special Counsel Even before Sessions testified, attention in Washington swivelled to whether Trump might seek to fire Robert Mueller, named last month by the Justice Department to head a federal probe into the Russia issue. Sessions told the senators that he has confidence in Mueller but said he had "no idea" if Trump did because he had not spoken to the president about the matter. Asked whether he would ever take any action to remove Mueller, Sessions said, "I would not think that would be appropriate for me to do." Such a move would be complicated and potentially politically explosive. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the person who would be responsible for carrying out any such dismissal, told a different congressional panel on Tuesday he would not fire Mueller without good cause and he had seen no such cause. Sessions, a former Republican US senator and an early supporter of Trump's presidential campaign, appeared before the committee just five days after Comey told the panel Trump ousted him to undermine the agency's investigation of the Russia matter. Sessions had written a letter to Trump recommending Comey's firing. In March he acknowledged he met twice last year with Russia's ambassador to Washington, Sergei Kislyak. Sessions said he did not mislead Congress because the encounters were part of his job as a US senator, not as a Trump campaign representative. But Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation in March after the revelations of the two Kislyak meetings. The abrupt dismissal of Comey prompted Trump's critics to charge that the president was trying to interfere with a criminal investigation. Asked about media reports that he had met with Kislyak on a third occasion at a Washington hotel last year, Sessions testified that did not remember meeting or having a conversation with the ambassador at the event. Sessions said he "racked my brain" and had no meeting with any Russian in his capacity as a Trump campaign adviser. Sessions said he did not recuse himself because he felt he was a subject of the investigation himself but rather because he felt he was required to by Justice Department rules.

Jeff Sessions denies secret meetings with Russia, calls it 'detestable lie'

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Russia ties at all-time and 'very dangerous low', laments President Trump

Jeff Sessions denies secret meetings with Russia, calls it 'detestable lie'