American Oversight Calls for Resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions
"Attorney General Sessions knowingly lied to the FBI about his Russian contacts, and he can no longer serve as our nation’s top law enforcement officer."
Watchdog Group Released Sessions’s Security Clearance Form Showing False Statements about Foreign Contacts
Washington, DC — Non-partisan ethics watchdog group American Oversight tonight called for the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions following the news that Sessions had discussed Trump campaign matters with the Russian ambassador last year.
American Oversight obtained and released a copy of Sessions’s security clearance form on July 13, 2017 showing that Sessions had lied about his contacts with Russian government officials.
American Oversight Executive Director Austin Evers released the following statement:
“Attorney General Sessions knowingly lied to the FBI about his Russian contacts, and he can no longer serve as our nation’s top law enforcement officer. Mr. Sessions was a major Trump campaign surrogate, and it was always absurd for him to pretend that he only discussed Senate business with the Russian ambassador.
“Mr. Sessions’s lie is there in black and white on his security clearance form, he signed it under penalty of perjury, and if he cares about the rule of law he must resign.
“Mr. Sessions has advised federal prosecutors across the country to charge defendants with the most serious crimes, carrying the toughest penalties. Special Counsel Robert Mueller should take him at his word.”
In response to American Oversight’s release of the SF-86 form last week, the Department of Justice asserted that all of Sessions’s contacts with Russian officials had been in his official capacity as a Senator – not as a Trump campaign surrogate – and that he had been advised informally by the FBI that he did not need to list official Senate meetings on his clearance application. Tonight’s new report by the Washington Post indicates that Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak had discussed “…matters including Trump’s positions on Russia-related issues and prospects for U.S.-Russia relations in a Trump administration” – topics that would not fall under the category of official Senate business.