Mediaboss Marketing

Sen. Rand PaulRand PaulRyan slams Paul for 'publicity stunt' search for ObamaCare bill Dem senator: 'No surprise' GOP hiding ObamaCare repeal bill GOP lawmakers lead way in holding town halls MORE (R-Ky.) on Thursday urged lawmakers to move past controversy surrounding Attorney General Jeff SessionsJeff SessionsSessions talks voting rights, police misconduct with NAACP Grassley: Sessions isn't coming back to testify on Russia talks Senate Dems request DOJ watchdog probe Sessions recusal MORE's contacts with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., saying it distracted from the GOP's policy priorities.

"I think we need to get beyond this and really start getting to some of the things that need to be fixed in the country, Paul said during an interview on Fox News's "Your World with Neil Cavuto."

"The biggest debate in the Capitol and in the country right now is what to do with healthcare, and so I think we need to home in on that and I think that hopefully the press conference by the attorney general will help us get on to business," he added.

Paul's remarks came after Sessions held a press conference to announce that he would recuse himselffrom any federal investigations into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Paul similarlydefendedthe Trump administration last month, pushing back on calls for a congressional investigation following the ouster of Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, when it was revealed he misled Vice President Pence about his own conversations with the Russian ambassador.

"I just dont think its useful to be doing investigation after investigation, particularly of your own party, Paul said at the time.

Sessions faced intense pressure to recuse himself after The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the former Trump surrogate twice spoke with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign.

The former Alabama senator had said during his confirmation hearings that he hadn't been in contact with Russian officials. Sessions later said he never met with any Russian official during his confirmation hearing to become attorney general.

"If were going to have everybody go that makes a misstatement on whether they met an ambassador or not, were going to have some people going," Paul said Thursday.

Paul appeared to wave off the attorney generals meeting with Kislyak during the Republican National Convention last summer, pointing out that Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskillClaire McCaskillPoll: More than half of voters in key 2018 states concerned by Trump's nominees Rand Paul on Sessions controversy: Time to move on Senate confirms Perry for Energy secretary MORE (Mo.) had also previouslymet with the Russian ambassador.

I mean we had one senator already on the other side of the aisle said she never met with a Russian ambassador until someone looked at her Twitter and found out sure she met with a Russian ambassador, she just forgot, Paul said.

So, I mean I think we ought to take a step back here and be a little bit more rational about whether or not its appropriate or inappropriate for senators to meet with a U.S. ambassador.

A spokesperson for McCaskill, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which Sessions also sat on while in the Senate, said Thursday that in 2013 the McCaskill "did attend a group meeting about adoptions with other Senators, and had a brief proactive call with the ambassador amid calls to several other parties to the Iran nuclear deal."

"Attorney General Sessions, on the other hand, misled the Senate under oath," the spokesperson said.

Go here to read the rest:
Rand Paul on Sessions controversy: Time to move on - The Hill (blog)