After the unceremonious departure of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn last month, the Trump administration now faces demands from Democrats for the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions following reports that he had twice spoken with the Russian Ambassador to the US in the run-up to the November presidential election.
Sessions, who had faced a tough Senate confirmation process with Democrats questioning his record on race and civil rights issues, spoke twice with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September 2016, but did not mention it during his confirmation hearing, The Washington Post reported late on Wednesday.
Much to the discomfiture of Sessions, a few key Republican lawmakers have asked him to recuse himself from federal investigations on whether Russia interfered in the US presidential election and also clarify comments made under oath to the Senate panel that he had not met with any Russian officials.
A spokeswoman for Sessions confirmed the two conversations he had with the envoy as a senior Republican Senator at the time, but asserted that there was “absolutely nothing misleading” about the answer he provided at the Senate hearing when he had been pointedly asked about any contacts on his part with Russian officials.
Sessions himself put out a brief statement on Wednesday night, saying: “I have never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.”
Top Democrats, who have been angered by the alleged Russian hacking of their party website in a bid to influence the election in favour of Trump, were not satisfied with Sessions’ assertions and demanded that he step down. Demands have also been raised for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to hold a thorough probe on the Russian involvement.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer led the demand for resignation. “Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign. There must be an independent, bipartisan, outside commission to investigate the Trump political, personal and financial connections to the Russians,” Pelosi said in a statement.
“Did the President know about the meetingsIJ” Senator Schumer asked, demanding that an independent, impartial special prosecutor should get to the bottom of Russian involvement in the whole American election process. “It is better for the country if he (Sessions) resigns,” he said, adding while there was nothing wrong about meeting with the Russian envoy, he ought not to have misled the Senate panel.
Several other Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Elijah Cummings, also joined the demand. “We need a special prosecutor totally independent of the AG. We need a real, bipartisan, transparent Congressional investigation into Russia. And we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions – who should have never been confirmed in the first place – to resign. We need it now,” Warren said.
While there was no immediate word from the White House, House Majority leader Kevin McCarthy told MSNBC that Sessions should bow out to maintain “the trust of the American people”. Another senior Republican, Jason Chaffetz, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, joined McCarthy’s call, tweeting: “AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself.”