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Jeff Sessions says he didn’t mislead Congress in testimony

Posted at 6:10 PM, Mar 06, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-06 18:10:51-05

Attorney General Jeff Sessions defended his response to Sen. Al Franken in his confirmation hearing saying his answer was “correct,” in a letter released by the Justice Department Monday, because he “did not mention communications (he) had had with the Russian Ambassador over the years because the question did not ask about them.”

Sessions said in the letter he “spoke briefly” to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July 2016, and he met with Kislyak in his office in September.

He said he does not remember talking about the campaign.

“I do not recall any discussions with the Russian Ambassador, or any other representative of the Russian government, regarding the political campaign on these occasions or any other occasion,” Session wrote in the letter.

He also said his recusal covers investigations of “Russian contacts with the Trump transition team and administration.”