{UAH} Allan/Gook/Pojim: Top Republicans call on Sessions to recuse himself from Russia investigation

Top Republicans said Thursday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself from investigations of whether Russia interfered in the presidential 2016 election at the Justice Department and FBI.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said during an appearance on MSNBC Thursday morning that Sessions should bow out to maintain "the trust of the American people."

Minutes later, House Oversight and Government Reform committee chairman Jason Chaffetz joined McCarthy's call, tweeting that "AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself."

The calls from two of the House's most prominent Republicans follow revelations that Sessions met with the Russian ambassador during election season. Under oath in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing in January, Sessions had said that he had not met with any Russian officials.

According to Justice Department officials, Sessions, a top Trump supporter, met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak twice in 2016, including one September meeting in his office.

In a statement following the revelations, Sessions denied he had met with "any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false," he said.

McCarthy and Chaffetz are the first prominent Republicans to call for Sessions to recuse himself. Some Democrats went further, calling on Sessions to resign, demanding an independent investigation and, in a few cases, accusing Sessions of lying under oath.

"After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the Attorney General must resign," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement released late Wednesday, adding that "Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country."

[Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose]

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is also demanding a special counsel to investigate the Trump administration for ties to Russia, "given AG Sessions' false statements about contacts with Russia."

And House Oversight and Government Affairs ranking Democrat Elijah E. Cummings (Md.) called for Sessions to resign. He criticized the attorney general for keeping "secret" his conversations with Kislyak, even after then-national security adviser Michael Flynn was fired for misleading Vice President Pence about his contacts with the same Kremlin official.

"When Senator Sessions testified under oath that 'I did not have communications with the Russians,' his statement was demonstrably false, yet he let it stand for weeks," Cummings remarked in a statement. "Attorney General Sessions should resign immediately, and there is no longer any question that we need a truly independent commission to investigate this issue."

This is the second time in Trump's young administration that the truthfulness of one of his top advisers has come under scrutiny. Last month, Trump fired his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, after revelations that he had misled the administration, specifically Vice President Pence, regarding his contacts with Russian officials. Before news of those contacts surfaced, Pence had defended Flynn in a television interview. The revelation that Flynn had lied to Pence prompted a number of Hill Republicans, including Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), to call for his resignation.

Sessions has focused his response to allegations on the substance of his conversations with Kislyak, which he argues did not veer into the realm of discussing the campaign.

But his acknowledgement of those conversations is tacit confirmation that he did meet and speak with Russian officials – something he told Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) that he did not do during his confirmation hearing in January.

Republicans were more cautious in their remarks, but there were signs that they could step up calls for an outside investigation of the Trump team's ties to Russia as a result of the Sessions news. Right now, the probes are being handled by the House and Senate Intelligence panels, and the FBI is investigating possible Russian interference in the election and the Trump team's possible ties to Kremlin officials.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said at a CNN town hall Wednesday night that if there is any substance to allegations regarding the Trump team and Russia, then Sessions cannot be the person to assess them.

"If there is something there and it goes up the chain of investigation, it is clear to me that Jeff Sessions, who is my dear friend, cannot make that decision about Trump," Graham said, stressing that Sessions's contacts with the Russian ambassador could have been "innocent."

"There may be nothing there," he continued. "But if there's something there that the FBI believes is criminal in nature, then for sure you need a special prosecutor. If that day ever comes, I'll be the first one to say it needs to be somebody other than Jeff."

Said frequent Trump critic John McCain (R-Ariz.): "I think we have to know more about it before we make a judgment."

The growing chorus of Democratic lawmakers calling for Sessions's resignation or recusal marks the most serious demands yet to remove Sessions — a Trump campaign adviser — from the chain of command in a probe at the Department of Justice he heads. Previously, Democrats demanded that Sessions to recuse himself from Russia-related proceedings, and some lawmakers continued to insist on recusal in the wake of the latest revelations.

Several Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday night questioned whether Sessions had lied under oath when he testified at his confirmation hearing in January that he had not had any communications with Russian officials. Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) asked whether the former senator provided false statements in his testimony to lawmakers.

On Twitter, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — a leading progressive and Trump antagonist — repeated calls for a special prosecutor to probe Russian influence in the elections and ties to Trump. She also called on Sessions to resign.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) also weighed in with a tweet: "I'm thinking Jeff Sessions is not the right person to investigate Jeff Sessions."

Mark Berman contributed to this report.

Read more at PowerPost

Top Republicans call on Sessions to recuse himself from Russia investigation - The Washington Post
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