Russia lobbyist says he attended dinners hosted by Jeff Sessions

Revelation contradicts US attorney general’s sworn testimony

An American lobbyist for Russian interests who helped craft an important foreign policy speech for Donald Trump has confirmed that he attended two dinners hosted by Jeff Sessions during the 2016 election campaign, apparently contradicting the attorney general’s testimony given this week.

Sessions testified under oath on Tuesday that he did not believe he had any contacts with lobbyists working for Russian interests over the course of Trump’s campaign. But Richard Burt, a former ambassador to Germany who has represented Russian interests in Washington, told the Guardian that he could confirm previous media reports that stated he had contacts with Sessions at the time.

Asked whether Sessions was unfamiliar with Burt’s role as a lobbyist for Russian interests – a fact that is disclosed in public records – or had any reason to be confused about the issue, Burt said he did not know.

Several media reports published before Trump’s election in November noted that Burt advised then candidate Trump on his first major foreign policy speech, a role that brought him into contact with Sessions personally.

Burt previously served on the advisory board of Alfa Capital Partners, a private equity fund where Russia’s Alfa Bank was an investor. Last year, he was lobbying on behalf of a pipeline company that is now controlled by Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled energy conglomerate.

He told Politico in October that he had been invited to two dinners that were hosted by Sessions last summer, at the height of the presidential campaign.

When John McCain, a frequent critic of Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin, asked Sessions in a hearing this week about whether the attorney general had ever had “any contacts with any representative, including any American lobbyist or agent of any Russian company” during the 2016 campaign, Sessions said he did not.

While Burt has not played a central role in the FBI and congressional investigation into alleged Russia meddling, Sessions’ response about his dealings with American lobbyists – which appears to contradict previous reports that Burt and Sessions communicated during the campaign – could invite more scrutiny of the attorney general’s testimony.

It is also possible that Sessions was not fully aware of Burt’s lobbying history, although Burt’s affiliation with Russian interests is fairly well known in Washington circles.

When contacted, the justice department did not comment.