Win McNamee/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Two Democratic senators revealed that they asked former FBI Director James Comey to investigate Attorney General Jeff Sessions for perjury stemming from his confirmation hearing testimony.
Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Al Franken, D-Minn., issued a joint statement Thursday alleging that Sessions had “provided false testimony” regarding his interactions with Russian officials.
“He made no attempt to correct his misleading testimony until the Washington Post revealed that, in fact, he had at least two meetings with the Russian ambassador during the 2016 presidential campaign. Yet the Attorney General never fully explained or even acknowledged the misrepresentations in his testimony, and we remained concerned that he had still not been forthcoming about the extent of his contacts with Russian officials,” the joint statement reads.
“We served with the Attorney General in the Senate and on the Judiciary Committee for many years. We know he would not tolerate dishonesty if he were in our shoes. If it is determined that the Attorney General still has not been truthful with Congress and the American people about his contacts with Russian officials during the campaign, he needs to resign,” the joint statement reads.
Leahy and Franken wrote that they contacted Comey on March 20, asking him “to investigate Attorney General Sessions’ false testimony and any additional contacts he may have had with Russian officials.”
The March 20 letter, signed by Leahy and Franken, states that they are “concerned by Attorney General Session’s lack of candor to the committee and his failure thus far to accept responsibility for testimony that could be construed as perjury.”
In Thursday’s statement, the senators write that they expected a response by May 12 but Comey was fired by President Donald Trump on May 9. They have not yet received a response.
During his confirmation hearings, Sessions was asked by Franken “if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign.”
Sessions said he was “not aware of any of those activities.”
“I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians and I’m unable to comment on it,” he said.
The Department of Justice said Sessions was not acting as a Trump surrogate during the meetings, but rather “as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee.”
Sessions subsequently recused himself from any DOJ probes related to the presidential campaigns.
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