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Top Democrats are calling on US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions to resign after it emerged he had two conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential campaign last year.
Key points:
- Jeff Sessions was confirmed as Attorney-General in February
- Sessions spoke with the Russian ambassador to the US twice during the presidential campaign last year
- He did not disclose these interactions during his confirmation hearing in January
They were encounters he did not disclose at his confirmation hearing in January when asked whether "anyone affiliated" with the campaign had contact with the Russians.
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said "there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer".
However, Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a statement demanding Mr Sessions leave his post over failing to disclose the interactions he had with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak.
"Now, after lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the Attorney-General must resign," she said.
"Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign."
Democrat Elijah Cummings, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, also called on Mr Sessions to leave, labelling the responses he gave during his confirmation as "demonstrably false".
Senator Elizabeth Warren, who was silenced during the debate on whether to make Jeff Sessions Attorney-General last month, also backed the call.
Meetings during the election campaign
The then-senator, who was a fervent supporter of President Donald Trump during his campaign, had meetings with more than 25 foreign ambassadors in his role as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and had two separate interactions with Mr Kislyak.
One was an office visit and the other happened in a group setting after a Heritage Foundation speech that Mr Sessions gave during the summer.
Earlier, the revelations had fuelled calls for him to remove himself from overseeing investigations by the FBI and the Justice Department, which he oversees, into Russia's alleged role in the 2016 US presidential election.
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff demanded he "recuse himself from any role in the investigation of Trump campaign ties to the Russians".
"This is not even a close call; it is a must," he said.
The White House is yet to comment.
AP/Reuters
Topics: donald-trump, world-politics, foreign-affairs, united-states
First posted