Sessions didn’t report meeting Russian
AG told not to disclose meeting with ambassador, DOJ says
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions did not disclose contacts with foreign dignitaries, including the Russian ambassador, on a security clearance form he submitted as a United States senator last year, the Justice Department acknowledged Wednesday.
The department said Sessions’ staff relied on the guidance of the FBI investigator handling the background check, who advised that meetings with foreign dignitaries “connected with Senate activities” did not have to be reported on the form.
The news comes just two months after Sessions recused himself from a Justice Department investigation into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign after it was revealed that he had two previously undisclosed encounters, last summer and fall, with the Russian ambassador. Sessions said at his Senate confirmation hearing that he had not any communication “with the Russians.”
In a statement, Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior said Sessions met with hundreds, if not thousands, of foreign dignitaries while in the Senate. Prior said Sessions’ staff consulted with the FBI and others familiar with the disclosure process, and was told not to list those meetings connected to his Senate job. CNN first reported the omissions.
Also Wednesday, the FBI told a House committee that it would not be complying with a Wednesday deadline to turn over memos written by former FBI Director James Comey detailing his discussions with President Donald Trump. One memo reportedly recounts Trump pressuring Comey to shut down an investigation into the foreign ties of foreign national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Lawmakers conducting their own probe continued to pressure Flynn to cooperate by raising the prospect of additional subpoenas, while Carter Page, a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, told The Associated Press he would testify next month before the House intelligence committee.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence services obtained information during the 2016 presidential election that showed senior Russian officials discussing how to influence Trump through his campaign advisers.
Citing three current and former American officials, the Times said U.S. intelligence officials collected information last summer showing Russians zeroed in on Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn, a former head of U.S. military intelligence who was a key Trump campaign adviser. The Russian officials thought Manafort and Flynn could be used to influence Trump’s views on Russia.
The Times said some of the officials bragged about ties to Flynn. Others thought they could use Manafort’s association with former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who led a pro-Russian political party, to their advantage, the Times reported.
A day earlier, former CIA Director John Brennan told a House committee that he had seen intelligence that “revealed contacts and interactions” between Russian officials and Americans “involved” in the Trump campaign.