Washington
Sessions’ participation in the gathering was detailed in court documents released on Monday by special counsel Robert Mueller III. The adviser who offered to set up the meeting was George Papadopoulos, who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, according to the documents.
Sessions had not previously disclosed the meeting, despite being asked over multiple appearances on Capitol Hill whether he or anyone on the campaign ever discussed meeting with Russians.
“This is another example in an alarming pattern in which you, the nation’s top law enforcement officer, apparently failed to tell the truth, under oath, about the Trump team’s contacts with agents of Russia,” Senate Judiciary Committee member Al Franken, D-Minn., wrote on Thursday in a letter to Sessions.
Senate Republicans have not rushed to Sessions’ defense but were less ruffled about his participation in the Papadopoulos meeting.
“If anybody’s got any concerns about his meeting, write him a letter and see what he says,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
A Sessions spokeswoman declined to comment this week on the March 31 meeting with Trump and campaign advisers, including Papadopoulos.
This is not the first time lawmakers have accused Sessions of withholding information from congressional testimony about interactions with or about Russians while working with the Trump campaign.
During his January confirmation hearing to become attorney general, Sessions told the Judiciary Committee that he had no communication with Russian officials, only to have The Washington Post reveal in March that he had spoken twice with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.
Following the Post report, Sessions recused himself from the Justice Department’s Russia probes — an action that infuriated Trump.