Sessions braces for tough questions from Democrats, Republicans at House hearing

Tuesday is shaping up to be a rough day for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is expected to be grilled during an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee by both Republicans and Democrats. Both parties are unhappy with his job performance.

Two House Republicans expressed frustration Monday that the attorney general has not appointed a special counsel to investigate FBI Director James B. Comey’s handling of last year’s election, and suggested that he either appoint an independent investigator or resign and clear the way for someone who will.

House Democrats, meanwhile, put Mr. Sessions on notice last week that they intend to question him about “inconsistencies” in accounts the attorney general has given about his knowledge of Russian interaction with members of the Trump campaign, when the then-senator served as a top security-policy adviser.

Mr. Sessions appearance before the House committee comes two weeks after the first criminal charges against members of President Trump’s 2016 campaign were unsealed — offering new information about Russian efforts to arrange meetings with Mr. Trump or members of his campaign.

Democrats said the case revealed George Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, admitted to informing Mr. Trump and Mr. Sessions at a March 2016 national security meeting that he had connections who could help arrange a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“In other words, officials at the highest level of the Trump campaign knew about Mr. Papadopoulos’s interactions with Russian officials on behalf of the campaign and hoped to hide these interactions from the public,” wrote House Democrats in a letter sent last week to Mr. Sessions. “These facts appear to contradict your sworn testimony on several occasions.”