Updated at 4:45 a.m. ET on Wednesday Jeff Sessions has lost a bid to regain his old Alabama U.S. Senate after falling from grace as President Trump's attorney general. Sessions had been hoping for redemption after enduring months of relentless ridicule from Trump that eventually led to his resignation as the country's top lawyer. But it was not to be. Instead, Sessions conceded defeat to former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville, a political neophyte, who handily beat him in the state's runoff election for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. "I leave elected office with my integrity intact," Sessions told reporters. "I hold my head high." Tuberville, 65, who was endorsed by the president in the GOP matchup — edged ahead of Sessions in Alabama's state primary in March but failed to secure a majority of the vote, setting up Tuesday's runoff. Tuberville will now face Democratic incumbent Sen. Doug Jones in November. As the race was called late Tuesday, Trump was

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“I stood up for the truth and performed at the highest levels,” Sessions said.

Jeff Sessions was speaking ahead of the inspector general's report on the Clinton email investigation, which is expected to blame 'insubordinate' James Comey.

President Trump railed against Jeff Sessions, whom he ousted last year, after his former attorney general failed to outright win the Republican nomination for his old Alabama Senate seat.