Jeff Sessions, who was the first U.S. Senator to endorse Donald Trump's bid for president, strongly denied at his confirmation hearing to be attorney general that he had any communications with Russian officials.
However, the Washington Post reports this evening that Sessions, who is overseeing the investigation into the connections between Trump's campaign and Russian officials, spoke at least twice with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak last year, meetings he conveniently didn't mention in his confirmation hearing:
At his Jan. 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Sessions was asked by Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign.
“I’m not aware of any of those activities,” he responded. He added: “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.”
...
In January, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) asked Sessions for answers to written questions. “Several of the President-elect’s nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?” Leahy wrote.
Sessions responded with one word: “No.”
Sessions has refused to recuse himself from the inquiry into ties between Trump's campaign and Russia.
The U.S. Attorney General is in good company with other Trump nominees who similarly misled the Senate during their confirmation hearings.
UPDATE (Karoli):
The White House responds.
