WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign season last year, contact that immediately fueled calls for him to recuse himself from a Justice Department investigation into Russian interference in the election.
Sessions, an early supporter of President Donald Trump and a policy adviser to the Republican candidate, did not disclose those communications at his confirmation hearing in January when asked what he would do if “anyone affiliated” with the campaign had been in contact with the Russian government.
Sessions answered that he had not had communication with the Russians.
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Wednesday night that “there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer.”
That answer did not satisfy Democrats who even before Wednesday had sought his recusal from the ongoing federal investigation and had raised questions about whether he could properly oversee it.