U.S. Senators Had Written To The FBI About Jeff Sessions’ Possible Perjury Over Russia
- 7 years ago
Two U.S. senators reportedly sent repeated requests to the FBI--including to then-Director James Comey--about the possibility that Attorney General Jeff Sessions may have had another undisclosed meeting with the Russian officials.
Two Democratic senators reportedly sent repeated requests to the FBI--including to then-Director James Comey--about the possibility that Attorney General Jeff Sessions may have had another undisclosed meeting with the Russian officials, reports CNN.
The USA Today notes, "On Thursday, Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Al Franken of Minnesota released three written requests they made earlier this year for an FBI review of Sessions."
The controversy began during Sessions’ Senate confirmation hearing when he denied having any contact with Russia in the months leading up to the election; however, it was later revealed that he had spoken with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak twice--in July and September of 2016, notes the Washington Post.
In light of the discrepancies, the Democratic lawmakers, both members of the Judiciary Committee, wrote to Comey on March 20, saying, “We are concerned about Attorney General Sessions' lack of candor to the committee and his failure thus far to accept responsibility for testimony that could be construed as perjury.”
Two subsequent letters followed, on April 28 and May 12, but the Bureau reportedly did not respond to any of them, notes CNN.
In Thursday’s statement about their requests, Leahy and Franken, said, in part, “The attorney general never fully explained or even acknowledged the misrepresentations in his testimony, and we remained concerned that he had still not been forthcoming about the extent of his contacts with Russian officials.”
They later added, “If it is determined that the attorney general still has not been truthful with Congress and the American people about his contacts with Russian officials during the campaign, he needs to resign.”
Their public call comes just one day after CNN reported that “congressional investigators were now examining whether Sessions and Kislyak met a third time.”
Two Democratic senators reportedly sent repeated requests to the FBI--including to then-Director James Comey--about the possibility that Attorney General Jeff Sessions may have had another undisclosed meeting with the Russian officials, reports CNN.
The USA Today notes, "On Thursday, Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Al Franken of Minnesota released three written requests they made earlier this year for an FBI review of Sessions."
The controversy began during Sessions’ Senate confirmation hearing when he denied having any contact with Russia in the months leading up to the election; however, it was later revealed that he had spoken with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak twice--in July and September of 2016, notes the Washington Post.
In light of the discrepancies, the Democratic lawmakers, both members of the Judiciary Committee, wrote to Comey on March 20, saying, “We are concerned about Attorney General Sessions' lack of candor to the committee and his failure thus far to accept responsibility for testimony that could be construed as perjury.”
Two subsequent letters followed, on April 28 and May 12, but the Bureau reportedly did not respond to any of them, notes CNN.
In Thursday’s statement about their requests, Leahy and Franken, said, in part, “The attorney general never fully explained or even acknowledged the misrepresentations in his testimony, and we remained concerned that he had still not been forthcoming about the extent of his contacts with Russian officials.”
They later added, “If it is determined that the attorney general still has not been truthful with Congress and the American people about his contacts with Russian officials during the campaign, he needs to resign.”
Their public call comes just one day after CNN reported that “congressional investigators were now examining whether Sessions and Kislyak met a third time.”