Since it was reveal that Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III wrongfully stated under oath that he knew of no contacts between Trump surrogates and Russian officials and it was later revealed that he himself met with the Russian Ambassador twice while he was a Trump surrogate and transition team member things have between a little become a bit uncomfortable for the former Senator. There have been calls for him to recuse himself from the DOJ investigation of Russian contacts to Trump associates during the campaign, and then there have been growing calls for him to resign as Attorney General.
As reported by Thinkprogress. 135 Democrats (and counting) have called for Sessions to resign.
A bipartisan array of members of Congress have called for Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the investigation into contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials, following revelations on Wednesday that the Attorney General falsely claimed under oath in his confirmation hearings that he had not met with Russian representatives. Sessions has now admitted to having had two conversations with the Russian ambassador.
But a growing number of lawmakers — so far all Democrats — have also called on Sessions to resign from his office, less than one month after he was sworn-in, over the apparent perjury. Among them are the House and Senate Democratic leaders.
The list those calling for Sessions to resign include Sen. Schumer, Sen. Markley, Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Warren, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Rep. Barbara Lee and Rep. Maxine Waters.
Of course the Regime has completely ignored this issue arguing that Sessions was “100% straight” when he incorrectly answered the question put to him by Senator Franken, and that anyone calling for Session to rescue “should be ashamed.”
Speaking with Fox News Thursday morning, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that “there’s nothing to recuse himself,” claiming that Sessions was “100 percent straight with the committee.” Spicer also repeated the administration’s line that the controversy is nothing more than a “partisan attack.”
But in reality Session explanations for himself have been much more like a twisting, winding road than anything that could be described as “straight.”
On Wednesday night, the Washington Post reported that Jeff Sessions met with the Russian ambassador during the presidential campaign. During his confirmation hearings Sessions said, under oath, “I did not have communications with the Russians.”
Session then admitted to meeting with the Russian ambassador while he was serving as a top advisor and surrogate for the Trump campaign. But he has offered shifting, contradictory, and carefully parsed explanations for concealing these meetings at his confirmation hearing.
Sessions initially indicated he didn’t remember what the meeting was about.
The Washington Post, speaking to officials defending Sessions, was initially told that Sessions could not remember the contents of the meeting:
Later, Sessions remembered what the conversations were about, saying they were not about the campaign.
Sessions says he was only speaking to the Ambassador in his official capacity as a Senator, but one of the meetings occurred at the RNC.
Sessions’ core defense is that he was only speaking about conversations he had as a Trump surrogate and that his meetings were in his official capacity as Senator. This was not a distinction he made in his answer to Franken, which was definitive and unqualified.
….
But one of his discussions with the Russian ambassador occurred at the Republican National Convention. Clearly, Sessions attended the RNC in his capacity as a Trump surrogate and advisor. It doesn’t seem possible to classify at a discussion Sessions had at the RNC as in his official and not political capacity.
Yes, how exactly did Session have a meeting with the Russian ambassador that took place in the RNC, but somehow it had nothing to do with the Trump campaign and only his “official” capacity as a U.S. Senator when not one other member of the Senate Armed Services committee had a similar meeting with Kisiyak? [Except for Sen. Claire McCaskill]
Thursday, Mar 2, 2017 · 9:53:26 PM +00:00 · Frank Vyan Walton
Session gave a press conference today where he denied misleading the confirmation committee, arguing that he thought the question was about discussions “about the Trump campaign with Russians” — even though that wasn’t the question at all. He has however, promised to recuse himself from any investigations of the Trump campaign and contacts with Russia although he refused to confirm or deny that any such investigation is currently taking place.
Friday, Mar 3, 2017 · 4:13:12 AM +00:00 · Frank Vyan Walton
I’m listening to the defensive arguments coming with Sessions and other Trumpsters saying that the “context of the question was discussing the campaign” with Russian government officials, but that literally wasn’t the question he was asked. He was asked “What he would do if he discovered contacts between campaign surrogates and Russia.”
He didn’t actually answer that question. He should have been able to say he would support an investigation and since he was a surrogate he would either recuse himself or appoint an independent prosecutor — he didn’t do any of that. He didn’t come up with recusal until today, and what he did then was volunteer as if he was testifying on behalf of all the surrogates that since he himself was a surrogate he knew for a fact he didn’t meet any Russians.
But he did.
And then he said he didn’t talk about the campaign. But then he changed his tone and said he didn’t “substantively” talk about the campaign so he’s already stared blowing up his own defense.
Recusal is frankly not enough. That means his Deputy — Sally Yates replacement Dana Boente who is an Obama holdover until Trump’s nominee Rod J. Rosenstein is confirmed [and won’t those hearings be something] — has to oversee an investigation that might mean having the FBI interview Sessions himself, his staff and their notes about this meeting. How well is that going to work? An independent investigator needs to be appointed.