National Security

Investigators probing whether Sessions, Kislyak had another undisclosed meeting: report

Greg Nash

Congressional investigators are looking into the possibility of another previously undisclosed meeting between Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during President Trump’s 2016 campaign, CNN reported Wednesday.

According to CNN’s report, congressional investigators are particularly interested in whether Sessions and Kislyak met on the sidelines of Trump’s foreign policy address at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., on April 27. Both Sessions, who was then a Republican senator from Alabama, and Kislyak attended a reception with event organizers ahead of Trump’s speech.

The FBI is also looking into possible interactions between Kislyak and Trump’s campaign team at the event.

{mosads}Sessions came under scrutiny in February amid revelations that he had failed to disclose to the Senate two meetings with Kislyak in 2016, when he was a surrogate for Trump’s presidential campaign.

He has since recused himself from matters involving federal investigations into Russian election meddling and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed a special counsel to handle the FBI investigation earlier this month.

The Justice Department flatly denied that Sessions had met with Kislyak at the Mayflower Hotel. 

“The Department of Justice appointed special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter,” Justice Department 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.”

Tags Jeff Sessions

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