Jeff Sessions Contacted Russia During 2016 Campaign: Reports

This story has been updated to correct Nancy Pelosi's role as House minority leader.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions communicated with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential campaign, according to a report from the Washington Post. Testimony to the Senate during his confirmation hearings indicated otherwise.

Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, asked then-Sen. Sessions, "If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do?" (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

“I’m not aware of any of those activities,” Sessions said. “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians.”

Watch the exchange below:

But the Washington Post found that, according to Justice Department officials, Sessions spoke twice with Kislyak, including once in September.

Read the full report>>

The Associated Press later confirmed the report.

According to U.S. code covering perjury, anyone who "in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the government of the United States, knowingly and willfully ... makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation" is subject to a fine or up to five years in prison.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat on the Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, issued a statement Wednesday night calling for Sessions' resignation.

"When Senator Sessions testified under oath that 'I did not have communications with the Russians,' his statement was demonstrably false, yet he let it stand for weeks -- and he continued to let it stand even as he watched the President tell the entire nation he didn't know anything about anyone advising his campaign talking to the Russians," the statement said. "Attorney General Sessions should resign immediately, and there is no longer any question that we need a truly independent commission to investigate this issue."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a similar statement on Sessions, saying, "After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the Attorney General must resign."

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.

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Photo credit: Gage Skidmore