President Donald Trump just can’t seem to shake his ties with Russia. Following the newly uncovered information that Trump appointed Attorney General, Jeff Sessions did contact Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak. Sessions admittedly denied under oath during his confirmation hearing when pressed by Minnesota Senator Al Franken, that he never had any communication with any Russian authorities when he served as a key member of the Trump advisory team during the 2016 campaign.
All of this comes out as the ranking democrats who have been pushing for an investigation into how deep the Trump administration is and was involved with Russian hacking against Hillary Clinton and what influence it had during the election.
According to the New York Times, Trump has said that he was unaware Sessions spoke with the ambassador. He also doesn't feel that despite the questions regarding his potential perjury he should recuse himself from overseeing the investigation regarding the Russian ties.
In an appearance on NBC News on Thursday morning, Sessions remained firm that he had not met with the Russian ambassador to discuss the political campaign. “I have said whenever it’s appropriate, I will recuse myself,” he said. “There’s no doubt about that.”
The allegations come just a few weeks following Trump’s national security advisor, Mike Flynn resigned after it was discovered he lied to Vice President, Mike Pence about his conversations about the sanctions placed on Russia with the same ambassador.
As the hole deepens Republicans are starting to break from the party and stand with Democrats demanding answers.
Representative Jason Chaffetz, the Utah Republican who leads the Oversight Committee, said on Twitter on Thursday, “AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself.” Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, said in a statement: “Jeff Sessions is a former colleague and a friend, but I think it would be best for him and for the country to recuse himself from the D.O.J. Russia probe.”
Some Democrats are looking for more than just clarification from Sessions, especially that if he did, in fact, lie under oath, he should follow General Flynn and step down as attorney general.
“For the good of the country, Attorney General Jeff Sessions should resign,” said the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York. Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader agreed with Schumer stating during a press conference Thursday that, “Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign.”
Back in November, the then Senator Sessions (R-Ala.) called for Loretta Lynch the attorney general at the time, to recuse herself from any investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. He stated that Lynch was too close to the Clintons, particularly following a closed-door meeting with former President Bill Clinton on a plane in Phoenix.
The manner in which the current President campaigned, calling for investigations into Hillary Clinton and her emails, having crowds at his rallies chant “lock her up” on numerous occasions even following the election, it would be foolish to think that at this level of the political game he and his staff could simply just let this one go.
Keith Marcus covers political news, environmental issues and sports topics in society. Follow him on Twitter @KeithMarcus.