President Trump's Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, said during his confirmation hearings that he "did not have communications with the Russians" during the presidential campaign — but it was revealed Wednesday night he did, twice.
Recuse:
Sen. Al Franken, Democrat
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Republican
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Republican
Sen. Brian Schatz, Democrat
Sen. Patrick Leahy, Democrat
Rep. Linda Sanchez, Democrat
Rep. Raul Labrador, Republican
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Democrat
Sen. Rob Portman, Republican
Rep. Darrell Issa, Republican
Rep. Barbara Comstock, Republican
Sen. Bill Nelson, Democrat
Sen. Ron Wyden, Democrat
Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat
Rep. Elizabeth Esty, Democrat
Sen. Susan Collins, Republican
Rep. Mike Doyle, Democrat
Rep. Brian Mast, Republican
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Democrat
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Democrat
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat
She also released a statement, saying "the American people deserve answers":
Attorney General Sessions must agree to come before the Judiciary Committee immediately so that we can determine whether he lied to the committee and the American people as well as how this relates to the question of Russian interference in our election. We need to know what happened at that meeting, whether he communicated with the Trump campaign before or after the meeting, and whether this is part of a bigger pattern.
Three days before Attorney General Sessions' September meeting with the Russian ambassador, President Obama made it clear to Vladimir Putin and the world that the U.S. would not roll back sanctions on Russia. This resembles news that broke just a few weeks ago that Michael Flynn contacted the Russian ambassador on the same day the U.S. expanded sanctions on Russia.
There is nothing less at stake here than the preservation of our democracy. The American people deserve answers.
Sen. Jack Reed, Democrat
We need honesty and transparency from the Attorney General, our nation’s chief law enforcement officer. It turns out Jeff Sessions didn’t provide that in his testimony, but he must do so now.
At a bare minimum, Attorney General Sessions needs to recuse himself and an independent special prosecutor must be put in place to probe the serious and mounting allegations about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives and officials. After misleading Congress, Attorney General Sessions is incapable of leading the investigation. In fact, he could be a subject of it.
Jeff Sessions knows he should have disclosed these meetings before his confirmation vote. Now he needs to answer legitimate questions about his actions and why he withheld this information.
And look, this goes beyond the Attorney General. The President needs to come clean and Republicans in Congress need to put the good of our country and the strength of our democracy ahead of partisan interests. U.S. intelligence clearly shows that the Russians interfered with our election. If Republicans impede fair and open investigations, wherever they lead, then Russia will continue its misconduct and Republicans will have enabled it to continue.
Sen. Dick Durbin, Democrat
Resign:
Rep. Elijah Cummings, Democrat
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Democrat
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat
Rep. Eric Salwell, Democrat
“He’s got to step aside on anything to do with this. It’s an inherent conflict now,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California who has been pushing for an independent commission to investigate foreign interference in the 2016 election, told BuzzFeed News. “He should welcome the opportunity to recuse himself.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill, Democrat
Sen. Kamala Harris, Democrat
“Attorney General Sessions deceived Congress and the American people, irreparably damaging his integrity, and is therefore ineligible to serve as the top law enforcement official of our country. He must resign immediately. In sworn testimony, Sessions said he had not communicated with Russian officials at a time when Russia was actively interfering with our election and he was serving as an official advisor to the Trump campaign. It is now clear that was a lie," Harris said in a statement Thursday morning.
“The faith Americans have in both a fair election and their elected officials has been fundamentally damaged and cannot be restored until there's a full accounting of the facts. This is critical to combating future Russian intrusion in our government and electoral process. Attorney General Sessions is a roadblock to that goal. It is essential to doing the work of justice that the American people believe that the top prosecutor is honest and unbiased. In the best interest of the nation, Attorney General Sessions must vacate his position immediately.”
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Democrat
Sen. Ed Markey, Democrat
Sen. Charles Schumer, Democrat
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat
“Attorney General Sessions’ actions undermine the integrity of the office and the Department that he has been trusted to oversee in a fair and impartial manner, and he must immediately resign," Cortez Masto said in a statement.
"Even the appearance of impropriety is inherently disqualifying for anyone serving as our nation’s top law enforcement official. Sessions has been in office less than one month and it is already clear that he cannot be trusted to uphold our nation’s laws, let alone our basic principles of transparency and honesty.”
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Democrat
Rep. José Serrano, Democrat
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Democrat
Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat
Sen. Sherrod Brown, Democrat
"He must resign his post immediately. Ohioans deserve a top law enforcement official they can trust, who doesn’t lie to the American people under oath,” Brown told BuzzFeed News.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, Democrat
Rep. Maxine Waters, Democrat
Rep. Donald Norcross, Democrat
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, Democrat
Rep. Donald Payne Jr., Democrat
Rep. Eleanor Norton, Democrat
Fire:
Rep. John Yarmuth, Democrat
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath and has to go. It shouldn’t even be his decision to resign—President Trump must fire him immediately. Nearly every single day, new information emerges that only proves the need for an independent investigation into President Trump’s personal, political, and financial ties to the Russians. The American people deserve answers,” Rep. Yarmuth said.