Alabama Sen. Luther Strange expressed confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions before Sessions' testimony Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Russia's interference in the 2016 elections.
"There's no finer person in public service than Jeff Sessions," Strange said in a Tuesday interview on Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
"America's very fortunate to have Jeff Sessions as attorney general, and I expect him to acquit himself very well" in his testimony, Strange said.
The senator praised Sessions' willingness to testify publicly.
"It says everything about his character. He's not interested in backroom testimony… because he is about telling the truth." Strange added that by Sessions speaking publicly, "It takes out the media… the liberal media, for sure, in interpreting what he might have said. Now people get to hear it directly and I think they'll be very impressed," Strange said.
Strange said he had offered words of thanks to Sessions ahead of his testimony.
"I have an idea about what he's going to say. My only conversations with him have been points of encouragement, thanking him for taking on a very tough job," Strange said during the Fox News appearance.
Strange was appointed to fill Sessions' seat in the Senate when Sessions was confirmed as President Donald Trump's attorney general. Strange was Alabama's attorney general at the time of his appointment.
Sessions issuing testimony in public is a smart move by Sessions, according to CNN's Chris Cillizza. "Neither a closed-door hearing nor a public one are great options for Jeff Sessions. But if you have to do one, Sessions chose the right one," Cillizza wrote.