On March 1 , 2017 , reports surfaced that Sessions had contact with Russian government officials during the 2016 U.S. presidential election , even though during his confirmation hearings he denied he had any discussions with representatives of the Russian government . News reports revealed that Sessions had spoken twice with Russia 's ambassador to the United States , Sergey Kislyak . The first communication took place after a Heritage Foundation event at the 2016 Republican National Convention attended by several ambassadors , including Kislyak who spoke with Sessions . The second interaction took place on September 8 , 2016 , when they met in Sessions 's office ; Sessions said they discussed Ukraine and terrorism . Sessions released a statement on March 1 , 2017 , 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 . " U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said : " There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer . He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign – not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee ... Last year , the Senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee , including the British , Korean , Japanese , Polish , Indian , Chinese , Canadian , Australian , German and Russian ambassadors . " Upon the revelation that Sessions had met several times with the Russian ambassador , Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called for Sessions to recuse himself from any investigations into the connections between Russia and the Trump campaign . Several Democratic members of Congress called on Sessions to resign his post as United States Attorney General . Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Elijah Cummings and Senator Al Franken accused Sessions of having lied under oath at his confirmation hearing
2016 Republican National Convention
2016 Republican National Convention
Jeff Sessions