Sessions seemed to be trying to head off perjury charges when he told reporters “my reply to the question was honest and correct as I understood it at the time,” he said, referring to Senator Al Franken’s question about possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. “I was taken aback by this brand new information that surrogates—and I had been a surrogate for Donald Trump—had been meeting continuously with Russian officials. In retrospect, I should’ve slowed down and said I did meet with one Russian official a couple times—that would be the ambassador.”
In fact, Sessions wasn’t being asked about his own meetings with Russian officials. In the confirmation hearing, Franken summarized a news story that reported on a “continuing exchange of information” between Russian officials and Trump advisers, and then asked Sessions what he would do “if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign.” In retrospect, Sessions’s dishonest answer is even stranger. “I’m not aware of any of those activities,” Sessions told Franken, adding, “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians.” Why Sessions chose to give an answer about his own contact with the Russians—when Franken hadn’t asked about that—is a mystery that we can only hope ongoing investigations will explain.
Sessions went on to describe one of his meetings with Kislyak, a scheduled sit-down in his Senate office with two senior aides there as well. He flashed back and forth between saying he couldn’t “recall” much of the meeting, and going into detail about their discussions of Ukraine. “To listen to him…Russia had done nothing that was wrong in any area, and everybody else was wrong with regard to the Ukraine,” Sessions recalled. “It got to be a little bit of a testy conversation at that point.” That’s a lot of information for a meeting Sessions seemed not to recall.
MORE AT:
Moreover, the revelation that the Kislyak meeting was on his calendar, and that senior staffers attended with him, makes it even more remarkable that Sessions didn’t disclose it to the Senate Judiciary Committee—or go back and correct the record after he was “taken aback” by “brand new information” (which wasn’t at all new) about connections between Trump campaign officials and Russian leaders."
The Nation
- “I did not have communications with the Russians.” -Jeff Sessions.
- Ernie Campos at a Coatesville RDA meeting publicly confirmed he met with Chetty Builders “before he was an RDA member."
Public Corruption
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Was Ernie Campos at Chetty Builders Headquarters in December of 2005?
Mr. Campos said, “Mr. Pawlowski asks Mr. Campos if any one accompanied him to a meeting with developers, da, da, da, da. That was clearly stated that was prior to Mr. Campos being an RDA member. “
When Mr. Campos spoke about a meeting with developers that occurred “prior to Mr. Campos being an RDA member” was he referring to an alleged meeting with Marc Hargraves at Chetty Headquarters in December of 2005? Did Andrew Lehr, Bob Saucier and Pat Sellers accompany Mr. Campos when he “met with a developer”? Was a sum of money discussed? Was Patsy Ray referred to as a “bag lady” at that alleged meeting?
Listen to Mr. Campos at the RDA meeting:
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