REPORT: Contrary to Statements Sessions Discussed Campaign With Russian Ambassador, Intelligence Intercepts Show

Kislyak Said ‘He Discussed Campaign-Related Matters, Including Policy Issues Important to Moscow, With Jeff Sessions’

Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak told his superiors that he discussed the Trump campaign with then-Senator Jeff Sessions, according to U.S. intelligence intercepts, and contrary to Sessions’ public statements and even sworn testimony.  

According to a bombshell Friday night report by The Washington Post, Kislyak said “he discussed campaign-related matters, including policy issues important to Moscow, with Jeff Sessions during the 2016 presidential race, contrary to public assertions by the embattled attorney general.” 

The Post cites “current and former U.S. officials.”

Two conversations “were intercepted by U.S. spy agencies, which monitor the communications of senior Russian officials both in the United States and in Russia. Sessions initially failed to disclose his contacts with Kislyak and then said that the meetings were not about the Trump campaign.”

One U.S. official said that Sessions — who testified that he has no recollection of an April encounter — has provided “misleading” statements that are “contradicted by other evidence.” A former official said that the intelligence indicates that Sessions and Kislyak had “substantive” discussions on matters including Trump’s positions on Russia-related issues and prospects for U.S.-Russia relations in a Trump administration.

The Post notes that U.S. intelligence officials “acknowledged that the Russian ambassador could have mischaracterized or exaggerated the nature of his interactions.”

But U.S. officials with regular access to Russian intelligence reports say Kislyak — whose tenure as ambassador to the United States ended recently — has a reputation for accurately relaying details about his interactions with officials in Washington.

Sessions testified under oath he did not have conversations with the Russians:

The Attorney General has denied lying:

On social media some believe the Trump administration leaked the news to force Sessions to resign. Trump blasted his attorney general in a New York Times interview Wednesday, and many in the White House were shocked Sessions did not resign the following morning. 

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