The top Senate Republican is sidestepping questions about President Donald Trump raised by Bob Woodward's latest book.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is also joining his House counterpart, Speaker Paul Ryan, in saying he wasn't among the sources the Washington Post journalist used for his book, "Fear: Trump in the White House."
McConnell was asked Wednesday about the book's reporting that Trump called Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a former Alabama senator, "mentally retarded" and a "dumb Southerner." The book relies on comments described by sources Woodward doesn't name.
The Kentucky Republican said he's not spoken to Woodward since he was writing his 2010 book about then-President Barack Obama. McConnell says he won't discuss "observations by these apparent sources" Woodward used about Trump.
McConnell also says he has total confidence in Sessions and hopes he continues serving as attorney general.