The minority party’s congressional leadership is calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to step down following revelations that he may have lied during his confirmation hearing, when denying he had spoken with Russian government officials during last year’s presidential campaign.
According to a Washington Post report on Wednesday, while still a senator, Sessions met twice with Russia’s ambassador to the US, contradicting testimony he gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the Attorney General must resign,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (R-Calif.) said on Thursday.
“Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign,” she added.
Pelosi’s sentiments were echoed among Democratic leadership on the other side of the Capitol.
“Because the Department of Justice should be above reproach, for the good of the country, Attorney General Sessions should resign,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.
During his Jan. 10 confirmation hearing, Sessions assured Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) that he had no communications with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign.
“I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians,” he claimed.
Sessions was also asked by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) if he had ever talked with members of the Russian government about last year’s election.
“No,” Sessions answered.
The Post reported that Sessions met with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in July and September of last year.
Kislyak was also in contact with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn last year, including a post-election conversation about US sanctions on Russia, which led to Flynn’s resignation last month.
The Attorney General released a statement Wednesday night, claiming that he: “never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.”
Sessions’ spokesperson, Sarah Isgur Flores, acknowledged that the meetings with the Russian ambassador took place, but said Sessions was operating in his official capacity as a lawmaker and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and not as a campaign operative for Donald Trump.
“There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer,” Flores claimed.
The Post noted, however, that no other members of the committee met last summer with Kislyak, though they often communicate with ambassadors.
While no Republican lawmakers have yet stepped forward calling on the Attorney General to step down, there is growing belief on the right that Sessions should at least recuse himself from any pending investigations related to Trump and Russia.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) called Sessions a “former colleague and friend,” but stated that “it would be best for him and for the country to recuse himself.”
Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are also calling for recusal.
Sessions told NBC News on Thursday that “whenever it’s appropriate, I will recuse myself.”
The White House, meanwhile, is sticking by their guy. On Fox News, administration press secretary Sean Spicer alleged that Sessions was “100 percent straight with the committee”
