Senate Democrats want to interrogate Attorney General Jeff Sessions again following new revelations in the federal investigation into Russian collusion with President Donald Trump’s campaign. After George Papadopoulos’ guilty plea on Monday Senate Democrats urged Sessions to explain to which extent he knew about the Russian government’s efforts to influence last year’s presidential election, particularly after it was revealed that he had previously met with Papadopoulos.
Sessions has since received numerous phone calls asking him to clarify his testimony before the Senate that he was unaware of any Trump campaign members communicating with individuals tied to the Russian government. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy was one of those who called on the attorney general to testify “under oath, to explain why he cannot seem to provide truthful, complete answers to these important and relevant questions.”
Senator Richard Blumenthal also urged Session to give a testimony, pointing out that Papadopoulos had allegedly informed his campaign superiors about his interactions with the Russians. Another similar request came from Senator Al Franken who sent a letter to Sessions on Thursday claiming “the Senate and the American public cannot trust your word.” He pointed out that the new developments in the investigation reveal evidence suggesting Sessions was dishonest concerning his “interactions with Russian operatives.”
A person familiar with Papadopoulos’ interaction with former Senator Sessions said Papadopoulos proposed “using his ‘Russian contacts’ to try to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin, which was immediately rejected by then-Senator Sessions.” The source repeatedly pointed out that Sessions did not know of any activities involving communications between the Russians and Trump’s campaign.
However, Sessions was reportedly aware of foreign policy adviser Carter Page’s travels to Russia during the 2016 campaign, although Page claimed on Thursday that they were not related in any way to his role in the campaign and were thus “irrelevant”.
Papadopoulos’ and Page’s statements, however, call Sessions’ comments to the Senate into question, especially because his appearance before the Judiciary Committee cannot be reconciled with Papadopoulos’ account, Huffington Post reports.
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