UPDATED: Sessions: 'No clear recollection' of Papadopoulos proposing Trump-Putin meeting [View all]

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico


By POLITICO STAFF 11/14/2017 10:47 AM EST

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday he has "no clear recollection" of what was said at a session at which a Trump campaign associate, George Papadopoulos, proposed organizing a meeting between then-candidate Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sessions said, however, that he believes he rejected the suggested meeting with Putin.

"I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government, or any other foreign government, for that matter," Sessions told the House judiciary committee. "But I did not recall this event, which occurred 18 months before my testimony of a few weeks ago, and would gladly have reported it."

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty last month to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia-linked people.

###

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/14/sessions-no-clear-recollection-of-papadopoulos-proposing-trump-putin-meeting-244881

---

UPDATE

Sessions says he always told the truth in describing Russia contacts

By Matt Zapotosky and Sari Horwitz November 14 at 10:49 AM

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday that he has always told the truth in describing his knowledge of Trump campaign contacts with Russians though he acknowledged he now recalls an interaction with a lower-level Trump adviser who has said he told Sessions about contacts who could help arrange a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When asked previously about whether he believed surrogates from the Trump campaign had communications with the Russians, Sessions said, speaking before the House Judiciary Committee. I did not, and Im not aware of anyone else that did, and I dont believe it happened.

Now, Sessions said he recalled a March 2016 meeting with Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos, in pleading guilty to lying to FBI agents, has admitted he told Trump and a group of other campaign officials, including Sessions, that he had contacts who could help arrange a meeting between Trump and Putin.

I do now recall the March 2016 meeting at Trump Hotel that Mr. Papadopoulos attended, but I have no clear recollection of the details of what he said at that meeting, Sessions said. After reading his account, and to the best of my recollection, I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government, or any other foreign government, for that matter. But I did not recall this event, which occurred 18 months before my testimony of a few weeks ago, and I would gladly have reported it had I remembered it because I pushed back against his suggestion that I thought may have been improper.

The House committees top Democrat vowed to press him about his and other former Trump campaign aides dealings with Russians leading up to the 2016 election. In his opening statement, U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) went through Sessionss public statements on Russia-related matters, highlighting instances in which what Sessions said did not comport with other evidence.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sessions-likely-to-be-questioned-about-trump-campaign-dealings-with-russians-at-house-judiciary-hearing/2017/11/13/bc20b7fc-c894-11e7-aa96-54417592cf72_story.html