Okay! Folks don't get your britches in a bunch or set your hair on fire, Sessions was doing his job as a Senator.
Department said late Wednesday that one of the discussions
between Sessions and Sergey Kislyak was an office visit that occurred in September in Sessions' capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The
second conversation took place in a group setting with other ambassadors
following a Heritage Foundation speech in July attended by roughly 50 ambassadors.
Sessions was asked by Sen. Al
Franken, D-Minn., how he would respond "if there is any evidence that
anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian
government in the course of this campaign."
“I’m not aware of any of those activities,” answered
Sessions, one of Trump’s earliest and most prominent supporters during the
campaign. “I have been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign and I
did not have communications with the Russians, and I’m unable to comment on
it.”
The Justice Department said Wednesday that "there was
absolutely nothing misleading about [Sessions'] answer [to Franken]. He was
asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump
campaign--not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed
Services Committee."
Sessions had meetings last year with more than 25 foreign
ambassadors, the Department said.
According to The Washington Post, then-Senator Jeff Sessions
spoke twice last year with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, considered by
U.S. intelligence to be one of Russia’s top spies. However, during his
confirmation hearings, Sessions stated “I did not have communications with the
Russians
Attorney
General Jeff Sessions denied having met with Russian officials to discuss
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign despite allegations that appeared a
Washington Post story published late Wednesday night. “I have not met with any
Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign,” Sessions said. “And
those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false, and I don’t have anything
else to say about that.” If necessary, Sessions vowed to recuse himself
from any investigation. “I have said whenever it is appropriate, I will recuse
myself,” he added. “There’s no doubt about that.”
Are you
concerned, though, about the Al Franken questioning and answering, where
Sessions seemed to volunteer that he had never spoken with any Russian
officials?
CRUZ:
You know, Joe, I’m not concerned about that. I think what we are seeing is a
lot of political theater.
Could
Jeff have been more clear in what he said?
Yes.
I think it — that was unfortunate. But I think context matters a lot. Jeff was
being asked about the Trump campaign communicating with the Russians. I think
he understood that he was answering in that capacity. And that is perfectly
understandable.
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” House Majority Leader Kevin
McCarthy (R-CA) responded to a report by The Washington Post that Attorney
General Jeff Sessions had met with Russians officials and did not disclose
those meetings during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary
Committee. McCarthy said Sessions should clarify any meetings with Russian
officials and that he should recuse himself if appropriate. However, he went on
to say he didn’t see anything “very serious” regarding the matter given
Sessions was acting in his role as a U.S. Senator. Partial transcript as
follows: SCARBOROUGH: What’s your reaction to the Jeff Sessions news? Should
the Attorney General recuse himself from any investigation moving forward on
Russia? REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MAJORITY LEADER: Well, I think Sessions,
the little clip I just saw listening to you, said he would recuse himself going
forward. But I think I’m just now reading about this myself. I could see in his
role of Senator, yes, meeting with different ambassadors. I just think he needs
to clarify what these meetings were and when did he have them.
No, Attorney General Jeff Sessions DID NOT Lie Under Oath
