Sen. Al Franken (D., Minn.) accused Attorney General Jeff Sessions of perjury Friday on MSNBC’s "Meet the Press Daily."
Host Chuck Todd asked about Franken’s questioning of Sessions, and Franken said that Sessions lied during his sworn testimony.
"I think that he did not answer truthfully under oath," Franken said.
Todd pressed him further, and Franken said that Sessions not only lied but also responded in a "terrible" way.
"Yeah I think he did [lie to Congress]," Franken said.
Franken was referring to Sessions’ nondisclosure of meetings with the Russian ambassador. Sessions and the Justice Department maintain that he did not need to disclose two routine meetings with the Russian envoy, but Franken is seeking evidence that Sessions met with the Russians other times.
Franken said, "Sen. [Patrick] Leahy and I wrote a private letter to then-director Comey to investigate if there were other meetings, specifically a third meeting at the Mayflower hotel, and we'll hopefully get to the bottom of that."
"So, should he be removed from office?" Todd asked.
Franken stopped there to note that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, doesn’t want to bring Sessions back for further questions about meeting Russian ambassadors. That did not satisfy Franken.
"We were very unsatisfied, Democrats on the committee, with his response about why he withheld, or, why he gave us misinformation," Franken said. "And his letter in response was terrible, it was an insult."
Sessions will testify in the Senate again on Tuesday, this time before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science. Franken is not on that committee, but Leahy, whom Franken mentioned, has said he will question Sessions about the firing of FBI Director James Comey.
Franken had previously said that Sessions "should come back and explain himself" for his previous testimony.
"It’s hard to come to any other conclusion that he perjured himself," Franken said in March.