Sessions still claims he never met with Russian officials, despite confirmation by the Justice Department.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has come under fire following revelations that he met with the Russian ambassador to the United States twice during President Trump’s campaign.
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Minnesota Senator Al Franken, who had a fiery exchange with Sessions during his January confirmation hearings to become attorney general last month, spoke out on CNN Thursday morning.
"I had simply asked him what would he do if he had learned that other members of the campaign had met with the Russians, hoping he would say that he would recuse himself," Franken told the network's Chris Cuomo. "He chose not to answer that but instead chose to say that he had not met with the Russians.
"And, of course, the ambassador from Russia is a Russian."
The recent revelations by the U.S. Justice Department concluded that Sessions did meet Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in Washington with former NSA advisor Michael Flynn.
On Thursday morning, Sessions was asked by reporters from NBC outside his home.
"I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign," he said. "And those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false. And I don't have anything else to say about that."
He added: "I have said whenever it's appropriate, I will recuse myself. There's no doubt about that."
During the confirmation hearings, Franken asked Sessions: “If there is evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the campaign, what will you do?”
Sessions replied: “Senator Franken, I am not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have communications with the Russians."
Now, Democrats are calling for Sessions' resignation.
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“Now, after lying under oath to congress about his own communications with the Russians, the attorney general must resign," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. "Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign."
AG Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign. https://t.co/5r8KpGQSRT pic.twitter.com/vKSVuvTIf3
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) March 2, 2017
While on CNN’s New Day Thursday morning, Franken said he was going to send Sessions a letter asking the attorney general to explain himself.
Reports and government officials have indicated that Kislyak is considered a top spy in Washington. The Russian government has disputed that claim.
