A TIMELINE OF KREMLIN INTRIGUE

Jeff Sessions says he doesn’t remember talking about the presidential campaign during a Sept. 8 meeting with a Russian ambassador, but the meeting took place during a memorable time in the campaign during which relations with Russia were a major issue:

July 22:

WikiLeaks begins publishing 20,000 emails that had been hacked from the Democratic National Committee. The leaks are later blamed on Russian operatives. July 27: Donald Trump calls on Russia to find and share missing emails from Hillary Clinton's private email server.

Sept. 5:

The Washington Post runs a bombshell story reporting the U.S. is investigating a potential covert Russian plan to disrupt the election. Hillary Clinton seizes on the story to attack Trump.

Sept. 7:

Trump praises Russian President Vladimir Putin in a televised forum on NBC. “The man has very strong control over a country,” Trump said. “... Far more than our President has been a leader.”

Sept. 8:

Trump sits for an interview with Russian TV in which he says he’s skeptical of the reports of Russian interference, while Trump’s pick for Vice President, Mike Pence, says, “I think it’s inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, under fire for saying he didn’t meet Russian envoy when he actually did, tells press Thursday he is backing out of probe of Trump administration ties to Moscow.

That day, Sessions, still a Republican senator from Alabama and a top adviser to the Trump campaign, meets with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in Session's Senate office.

Adam Edelman