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When Jeff Sessions cagily told a Senate panel that he had been called a Trump surrogate "a time or two"—two may have been an undercount as far as his Russian contacts were concerned. CNN reports that congressional investigators are now looking into whether Sessions actually had a third private meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in 2016 beyond the two that he failed to disclose during his confirmation hearing for attorney general in January.
Investigators on the Hill are requesting additional information, including schedules from Sessions, a source with knowledge tells CNN. They are focusing on whether such a meeting took place April 27, 2016, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, where then-candidate Donald Trump was delivering his first major foreign policy address. Prior to the speech, then-Sen. Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak attended a small VIP reception with organizers, diplomats and others.
In addition to congressional investigators, the FBI is seeking to determine the extent of interactions the Trump campaign team may have had with Russia's ambassador during the event as part of its broader counterintelligence investigation of Russian interference in the election.
Sources tell CNN they have nothing conclusive about such a meeting between Kislyak and Sessions, but nonetheless someone sounds a touch defensive.
"The Department of Justice appointed special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter," Department of Justice spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement to CNN. "We will allow him to do his job. It is unfortunate that anonymous sources whose credibility will never face public scrutiny are continuously trying to hinder that process by peddling false stories to the mainstream media. The facts haven't changed; the then-Senator did not have any private or side conversations with any Russian officials at the Mayflower Hotel."
Just as a refresher, during his confirmation hearing on Jan. 10, Sessions denied having Russian contacts though it was later revealed by the Washington Post that he had talked with Kislyak in both July and September of 2016. Sessions claimed he did not do so in his capacity as a campaign surrogate and thus didn't feel obligated to disclose those contacts during his sworn testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
After the revelation that he lied, Sessions held a news conference saying he would recuse himself from everything* related to the Trump-Russia investigations going forward (*except when it came to firing the guy in charge of that inquiry).
Asked at a news conference on March 2 whether there were any other meetings with Russians besides those two, Sessions told reporters, "I don't believe so -- you know, we meet a lot of people -- I don't believe so."
Spoken like a guy waiting for another shoe to drop—a little like Paul Manafort saying he never “knowingly” had contacts with Russian spies.
UPDATE: CHECK OUT THIS GETTY PHOTO FROM THE EVENT
Here’s the official Getty caption:
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) (2L) speaks with a guest while Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak (front row R) waits to hear Republican US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump speak about foreign policy at the Mayflower Hotel April 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)