Sessions denies lying to Congress about Russia contacts

Attorney General Jeff SessionsJefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsCurtis wins Chaffetz’s former Utah House seat Overnight Cybersecurity: What we learned from Carter Page’s House Intel testimony | House to mark up foreign intel reform law | FBI can’t access Texas shooter’s phone | Sessions to testify at hearing amid Russia scrutiny FBI can’t unlock Texas shooter’s phone MORE on Tuesday denied that he lied under oath about contacts with Russia even as he acknowledged his interactions with a low-level Trump campaign adviser who offered to broker a meeting with Moscow.

During six hours of testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Sessions faced repeated questions about a meeting that included the former Trump adviser, George Papadopoulos, who is now cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Session acknowledged that he participated in the meeting with Papadopoulos and other Trump campaign officials last year. 

“I do now recall the March 2016 meeting at Trump Hotel that Mr. Papadopoulos attended, but I have no clear recollection of the details of what he said during that meeting,” Sessions said. “After reading his account, and to the best of my recollection, I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government.” 

Court documents unsealed by Mueller at the end of October revealed that Papadopoulos, a volunteer foreign policy adviser, pleaded guilty in October to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russia-connected individuals during the campaign. 

Documents released by Mueller showed that Papadopoulos sought for several months to set up a meeting between the Trump campaign and Moscow, helped by an intermediary identified in the indictment as a professor in London. 

Sessions walked a fine line in his testimony, simultaneously insisting that his recollection of a meeting with Papadopoulos was foggy while insisting that he “pushed back” on any possible meeting with Russia.

The attorney general also refused to challenge former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page’s account of a June 2016 conversation during which he says he informed Sessions of an impending trip to Moscow. At the same time, Sessions insisted he did not recall the interaction, which Page recounted to House Intelligence Committee members earlier this month.

The developments fueled charges from Democrats that Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearing when he said he had no knowledge of contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russia.

“That is exactly the opposite answer you gave under oath to the U.S. Senate,” said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.). “Either you’re lying to the U.S. Senate, or you’re lying to the U.S. House of Representatives.” 

Sessions was defiant.

“My story has never changed,” Sessions said. “I have always told the truth.” 

Tuesday’s testimony is likely to generate further scrutiny of the attorney general.

In January, Sessions told the Senate Judiciary Committee he was unaware of interactions between Trump campaign surrogates and Russian government “intermediaries” and that he himself “did not have communications with the Russians.” 

Later, it surfaced that Sessions met twice with Russian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak — once at the Republican National Convention in July 2016 and again in his Senate office in September. Sessions is also alleged to have met with Kislyak a third time in April 2016 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.

The developments resulted in Sessions recusing himself from all Russia-related investigations, including the one that Mueller is now conducting as special counsel.

On Tuesday, Sessions continued to defend his statements during his confirmation hearing as truthful, explaining that he was specifically addressing a news report cited by Sen. Al FrankenAlan (Al) Stuart FrankenOvernight Tech: Senate panel subpoenaed ex-Yahoo chief | Twitter gives all users 280 characters | FBI can’t access Texas shooter’s phone | EU wants tax answers from Apple Week ahead: DHS nominee heads before Senate | Ex-Yahoo chief to testify on hack | Senators dig into election security Feinstein: Sessions should re-testify on Russia meetings MORE (D-Minn.) about continuing contacts between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. 

“My focus was on responding to the concern that I, as a surrogate, was participating in a continuing series of meetings with intermediaries for the Russian government,” Sessions said. “I certainly didn’t mean I had never met a Russian in the history of my life.”

“My response was, according to the way I heard the question, as honest as I could give it at the time,” Sessions said later. 

Democrats said Sessions was simply shifting his story.

“It’s difficult to take your assurances under oath when you seem to change your testimony each time new evidence emerges,” said Rep. Pramila JayapalPramila JayapalFemale Dem lawmaker posts video of GOP chairman ‘mansplaining’ bill to her Dem introduces measures calling for Trump to fire staff who have backed white supremacists MORE (D-Wash.).

Republicans on the committee at times tried to deflect from the Russia questioning by pressing Sessions on the possibility of appointing a second special counsel to investigate matters related to Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonGOP rushes to cut ties to Moore Papadopoulos was in regular contact with Stephen Miller, helped edit Trump speech: report Bannon jokes Clinton got her ‘ass kicked’ in 2016 election MORE.  

The hearing took place just weeks after the special counsel’s office revealed Papadopoulos’s guilty plea, as well as a slew of financial-related charges against former Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Robert Gates.

Trump and his associates have described Papadopoulos role in the campaign as minimal. 

Sessions said Tuesday that he has not consulted with Mueller or anyone at the FBI about his interactions with Papadopoulos. 

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