The Senate Intelligence Committee hearing marked Sessions’s first appearance before Congress since his confirmation in February. It also came less than a week after Comey’s dramatic session, which was the subject of several lawmakers’ questions Tuesday. In one notable exchange, Sessions bristled at suggestion that he couldn’t—or shouldn’t—have had oversight over the Russia investigation. “Mr. Comey said that there were matters with respect to the recusal that were problematic and he couldn't talk about them,” asked Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden at one point. “What are they?”

“Why don't you tell me?” Sessions snapped back, visibly angry. “There are none, Senator Wyden. There are none. I can tell that you for absolute certainty. This is secret innuendo leaked out there about me and I don't appreciate it.” The moment was representative of the stark contrast between Sessions’s posture and the ease and relative dispassion with which Comey answered the committee’s questions last week.

Some Democratic senators accused Sessions of not fully answering their questions, a charge he tried to rebut. "Senator, I am not stonewalling,” he told Wyden. “I am following the historic policies of the Department of Justice. You don't walk into any hearing or committee meeting and reveal confidential communications with the president of the United States, who's entitled to receive confidential communications and your best judgment about a host of issues. And after be accused of stonewalling for not answering them. So I would push back on that.”

But that explanation did not persuade them. Multiple Democratic senators pressed Sessions on his efforts to seemingly invoke a new version of executive privilege, a protection that shields some executive-branch communications from Congress and the judiciary. He repeatedly suggested he needed to acquire permission from President Trump before replying to some of their queries.

“There are two investigations here. There is a special counsel investigation. There is also a congressional investigation,” New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich, a Democrat, told the attorney general, referring to his own committee’s probe. “And you are obstructing that congressional investigation by not answering these questions. And I think your silence, like the silence of Director [of National Intelligence Dan] Coats, like the silence of [National Security Agency Director Mike] Rogers, speaks volumes.” Both officials avoided answering multiple questions for vague reasons in a similar hearing last week.

“I would say that I have consulted with senior career attorneys in the department and they believe this is consistent with my duties,” Sessions retorted.

Republican committee members took a softer approach, at times exchanging friendly banter with Sessions in between questioning by Democratic colleagues. Other queries from GOP senators offered Sessions a chance to clarify the sequence of events surrounding Comey’s abrupt ouster last month. “Isn’t it true that the Russian investigation did not factor into your recommendation to fire Director Comey?" Texas Senator John Cornyn asked. “That is correct,” Sessions replied.