Sessions was also one of President Donald Trump’s earliest supporters He advised Trump’s election campaign In July 2016 the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI began looking into Trump’s campaign The FBI thought campaign officials might have been in contact with the Russian government The FBI feared the two groups were working together to sway the election After Trump won in November 2016 this fear grew In January 2017 Sessions said he had no contact with Russia during the campaign He made this statement under oath But in March news spread that Sessions had met with a Russian official twice In the June hearing the committee wanted answers Each senator had only five minutes to question Sessions Harris focused her time on one issue 6
Harris questions Attorney General Jeff Sessions during a hearing in June 2017 She wanted notes from Sessions’s meetings with the Russian official Sessions struggled to answer Harris’s questions He said her quick questions made him nervous But Harris was a former prosecutor She did not back down She pressed Sessions for the full five minutes Afterward the hearing received a lot of news attention Harris had served in the Senate for only six months But she was already seen as a rising political star 7
RAISED IN COMMUNITY Kamala Harris was born in Oakland California on October 20 1964 Her father Donald was a professor of economics Her mother Shyamala researched breast cancer Both of Kamala’s parents had immigrated to the United States Her father was from Jamaica and her mother was from India Kamala’s sister Maya was born in 1967 The Harris family found a sense of home in Oakland’s black and Indian communities The city of Oakland is in northern California’s Bay Area along with San Francisco and San Jose 9 CHAPTER 2
