Sessions steps aside on Russia
Attorney general recuses himself from probe into interference in 2016 election
WASHINGTON — Under intensifying pressure, Attorney General Jeff Sessions abruptly agreed Thursday to recuse himself from any investigation into Russian meddling in America’s 2016 presidential election.
He acted after revelations he twice spoke with the Russian ambassador during the campaign and failed to say so when pressed by Congress.
Sessions rejected any suggestion that he had tried to mislead anyone about his contacts with the Russian, saying, “That is not my intent. That is not correct.”
But he did allow that he should have been more careful in his testimony during his confirmation hearing, saying: “I should have slowed down and said, ‘But I did meet one Russian official a couple of times.”’
The White House has stood by Sessions in the latest controversy to dog President Donald Trump’s young administration, though officials say they first learned about his contacts with the ambassador from a reporter Wednesday night. Trump said Thursday he had “total” confidence in Sessions and didn’t think he needed to recuse himself — not long before he did.
Trump later laid the controversy at the feet of Democrats, saying they are trying to save face.
“The Democrats are overplaying their hand,” he said in a statement Thursday night. “They lost the election and now they have lost their grip on reality. The real story is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total witch hunt!”
One of Sessions’ conversations with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak occurred at a July event on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. At that same event, the ambassador also spoke with Carter Page, who briefly advised Trump’s campaign on foreign policy, according to a person with knowledge of the discussion.
Separately, a White House official said Thursday that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn met with Kislyak at Trump Tower in New York in December. The official described that sit-down as a brief courtesy meeting.
Flynn was fired last month for misleading Vice-President Mike Pence about his contacts with Kislyak.
The Trump team’s account of Flynn’s contacts with the ambassador has changed several times. The White House did not disclose the in-person meeting — or Kushner’s involvement — until Thursday.
Trump has been trailed for months by questions about potential ties to Russia, and allegations of Russian efforts to interfere in the U.S. election to help him defeat Hillary Clinton. The new president and his campaign officials have blamed such contentions on Democratic sore losers and have heatedly denied any contact with Russians concerning the election.
While there is nothing necessarily nefarious or even unusual about a member of Congress meeting with a foreign ambassador, typically members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee meet with foreign ambassadors, not Armed Services Committee lawmakers, such as Sessions, whose responsibility is oversight of the military and the Pentagon.