Update: AP reports that President Donald Trump said he has “total” confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions and that he sees no need for Sessions to recuse himself from any investigation of Russian meddling in U.S. politics. Trump voiced his support for Sessions in response to a shouted question before speaking at an event aboard a Navy aircraft carrier in Virginia.
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With Top Democrats urging his resignation (and several Republicans demanding he recuse himself), AG Sessions has at least one defender as The White House (after denying any knowledge of Sessions' meetings with the Russian ambassador) stood by him. Sean Spicer told Fox News saying that "there's nothing" for Sessions "to recuse himself" from.
Following House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) statement, accusing Sessions of "lying under oath" during confirmation proceedings about his contacts with the Russians.
"Jeff Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearing before the Senate. Under penalty of perjury, he told the Senate Judiciary Committee, 'I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.' We now know that statement is false,"
Pelosi said in a statement. She then added that "The Attorney General must resign. There must be an independent, bipartisan, outside commission to investigate the Trump political, personal and financial connections to the Russians.”
AG Session then responded to the WaPo report, in a statement issued early on Thursday morning, saying, "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
And now, as USA Today reports, The White House didn't know that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had twice met with the Russian ambassador during the presidential campaign until the story broke Wednesday night, a White House official said.
//www.usatoday.com/videos/embed/98637108/
The aide spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday morning while the White House prepared to respond to the reports.
It's not unusual or illegal for a senator to speak with a foreign ambassador, and the Justice Department acknowledges that Sessions did so twice in 2016: first in July at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and again in September in his Senate office. But the acknowledgement that the White House was in the dark about the contacts could raise new questions about the White House vetting of nominees for Cabinet positions.
In an interview with Fox News Thursday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Sessions was “100% straight with the committee” and that Democrats were playing politics, adding that "there's nothing" for Sessions "to recuse himself" from.
Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com
Of course, Democrats continue to search high and low for the smoking gun that proves they didn't LOSE then election, it was stolen from them... As Politico reports, now The FBI is being blamed...
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday accused FBI Director James Comey of withholding crucial information about its probe into Russian interference in the election.
"I would say at this point we know less than a fraction of what the FBI knows,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told reporters after a briefing with Comey.
For now Trump has not gotten himself involved in this latest spat, which could potentially escalate into the resignation of a second key aide to the Trump Administration.