'Some people think, 'Oh, that Franken, he's playing three-dimensional chess, he's four moves ahead of everyone else. 'I was just asking a question,' Franken says. But no, he didn't do it on purpose, Franken insists. That's a lot of falling dominoes to be set in motion by one guy. Either dismissal, or both, could spark a constitutional crisis. Which put us where we are now - with the president fuming publicly about his 'regret' at nominating Sessions, his fury at the recusal, and speculation about whether Trump might try to fire Sessions or Mueller. Which left his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, positioned to appoint former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counselor - investigating what was turning into a major presidential scandal. If that turned out to be true, Franken asked the prospective attorney general, 'what will you do?'īy answering Franken as he did, Sessions was pretty much obliged to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. It all began, says Franken, a Passaic County native, with a simple question.ĭuring the confirmation hearing for Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January, Franken brought up allegations of an 'exchange of information' between Trump surrogates and Russia. One that is already having drastic fallout for the Trump administration. He triggered, inadvertently, what is turning out to be the most consequential pivot of 2017. It means, as Franken is happy to tell you in his puckishly titled new book 'Al Franken, Giant of the Senate,' the art of evading a question by answering a different question. Senator from Minnesota.īut a 'pivot' also means something else, in Washington-speak.

As when Al Franken, in 2009, changed his job description from comedian ('Saturday Night Live,' 'Stuart Saves His Family') and satirical writer to Democratic U.S. Watch Video: Al Franken says being a senator is the best job he's ever hadĪ 'pivot' is a sharp about-face.

Al franken new book