Trump White House facing Russia scandal flare-up

As calls for an investigation into the Obama campaign’s connections to Russia grew louder, news broke that Obama’s new attorney general had been less than honest during his confirmation hearing when asked if he had contact with the Russians.

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff echoed the calls. “And when you’re asked about your contacts with Russians in the Senate, that should have been disclosed”. “And the idea that I was part of a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government are totally false”. The second was a September conversation, which the department likened to the more than 25 discussions Sessions had with foreign ambassadors past year as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The report seemed to contradict Sessions’s testimony during his confirmation hearing that he “did not have communications with the Russians”. “Attorney General Sessions should resign immediately, and there is no longer any question that we need a truly independent commission to investigate this issue”.

At the least, this should disqualify Sessions from presiding or participating in any Justice Department investigation into ties between Russian Federation and Trump’s campaign.

The Washington Post reported that Sessions was the only member of the Senate Armed Services Committee to meet with Kislyak in 2016.

“Attorney General Sessions should recuse himself to ensure public confidence in the Justice Department’s investigation”, Maine’s senior senator said in a statement Thursday afternoon. Sen. Jeff Sessions: “Senator Franken, I’m not aware of any of those activities”.

In this February 28, 2017, photo, Attorney General Jeff Sessions pauses while speaking at the National Association of Attorneys General annual winter meeting in Washington.

It carries echoes of a similar controversy involving retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who two weeks ago resigned as national security adviser after misleading White House officials about his own discussions with the Russian official.

“I’m not going to deny that I talked with him”, Page told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Thursday evening, referring to Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called for Sessions’s recusal and many Democrats are now demanding his outright resignation. But she said the conversations were routine for an individual who at the time was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with Kislyak twice: once at the Republican convention and once in September in Session’s Senate office. “Moreover, the Department of Justice must put in place a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump administration and the campaign’s connections to Russian Federation”.

March 2, 2017: The NYT reports that Jared Kushner also met with Kislyak along with Flynn in December.