Court filings this week document a meeting during which Attorney General Jeff Sessions shot down a suggestion from a low level campaign adviser to arrange a meeting between then candidate Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The bad news is that Sessions, then the chairman of candidate Trump's national security team, didn't relay that March 2016 conversation during direct questioning in any of his congressional testimony, and lawmakers have noticed, CNN reports.
Then, the low-level staffer, George Papadopoulos, was indicted for lying to the FBI over his dalliance with Russia one-and-a-half years later.
"It turns out (Sessions) was at this meeting with George Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos proposed meeting with Putin and Trump. He didn't disclose that to the committee," Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, and intelligence committee member said, CNN reported.
Heinrich told CNN that it begs the question of "whether he is being honest and forthright with the committee, and what does that mean for the highest law enforcement officer in the country?"
Republican Sen. John Cornyn said, "I certainly think it's a legitimate area of inquiry," CNN reported.
And considering Sessions left out meeting with a former Russian ambassador during his January confirmation hearing, lawmakers — especially Democrats — are ready to pounce, given this statement during June testimony:
Sessions said he did not know of any conversations between "anyone connected to the Trump campaign" and Russians regarding "any type of interference with any campaign or election in the United States," CNN reported.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told CNN he's "looking into" whether Sessions should be brought back before the committee to amend any of his statements.
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