Jeff Sessions Refers To Trump Speech At ‘Jewish AIPAC Event’ In Contentious Hearing
Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ testimony on Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee was highly contentious, as the Justice Department chief refused to answer numerous questions about conversations with President Trump and frequently stated that he did not recall alleged meetings with Russian officials.
But he did explain that he went to see a Trump speech at Washington, D.C.’s Mayflower Hotel, where Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak was present, because the only other time that he had heard Trump speak was “at the Jewish AIPAC event.”
Sessions was referring to Trump’s speech at the Verizon Center during the 2016 AIPAC Policy Conference. Some 18,000 people filled the arena, a great many of whom were Jewish. In fact, there were likely more Jews at Trump’s speech than the number that live in Alabama, which Sessions represented in the Senate for 20 years.
AIPAC defines itself as a pro-Israel organization, not an explicitly Jewish one. It also has a significant Christian support base.
Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter @aidenpink.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!