Washington: Then-senator Jeff Sessions, a Republican from Alabama, spoke twice last year to Russia's ambassador to the United States, Justice Department officials said, encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts between members of President Donald Trump's campaign and representatives of Moscow during Mr Sessions' confirmation hearing to become Attorney-General.
One of the meetings was a private conversation between Mr Sessions and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place in the senator's office in September, at the height of what US intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the US presidential race.
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The previously undisclosed discussions could fuel new congressional calls for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russia's alleged role in the 2016 presidential election.
As Attorney-General, Mr Sessions oversees the Justice Department and the FBI, which have been leading investigations into Russian meddling and any links to Mr Trump's associates. He has so far resisted calls to recuse himself.
When Mr Sessions spoke to Mr Kislyak in July and September, the senator was a senior member of the influential Armed Services Committee as well as one of Mr Trump's top foreign policy advisers.
Mr Sessions played a prominent role supporting Mr Trump on the stump after formally joining the campaign in February 2016.
At his January 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Mr Sessions was asked by Senator Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, what he would do if he learnt of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign.
"I'm not aware of any of those activities," he responded. He added: "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians."
![Secret meetings with Russian ambassador: Attorney-General Jeff Sessions.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170725161413im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/q/e/f/j/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.guoyf9.png/1488431605363.jpg)
Officials said Mr Sessions did not consider the conversations relevant to the lawmakers' questions and did not remember in detail what he discussed with Mr Kislyak.
"There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer," said Sarah Isgur Flores, Mr Sessions's spokeswoman.
![Michael Flynn was forced to resign as national security adviser as a result of his post-election contacts with Kislyak.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170725161413im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/b/r/m/a/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.guoyf9.png/1495068598024.jpg)
Justice officials said Mr Sessions met Mr Kislyak on September 8 in his capacity as a member of the armed services panel rather than in his role as a Trump campaign surrogate.
"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," Ms Flores said.
![Private conversation with Jeff Sessions: Russia's ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170725161413im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/b/k/1/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.guoyf9.png/1490933911106.jpg)
She added that Mr Sessions last year had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the armed services committee, including the British, South Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian and German ambassadors, in addition to Mr Kislyak.
In the case of the September meeting, one department official who came to the defence of the Attorney-General said, "There's just not strong recollection of what was said."
The Russian ambassador did not respond to requests for comment about his contacts with Mr Sessions.
The Washington Post contacted all 26 members of the 2016 Senate Armed Services Committee to see if any lawmakers besides Mr Sessions met Mr Kislyak in 2016.
Of the 19 lawmakers who responded, every senator, including chairman Republican John McCain said they did not meet the Russian ambassador last year. The other lawmakers on the panel had not responded as of Wednesday evening.
"Members of the committee have not been beating a path to Kislyak's door," a senior Senate armed services committee staffer said, citing tensions in relations with Moscow.
Besides Mr Sessions, the staffer added, "There haven't been a ton of members who are looking to meet with Kislyak for their committee duties."
Last month, The Washington Post reported that Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn had discussed US sanctions with Mr Kislyak during the month before Mr Trump took office, contrary to public assertions by Mike Pence, the Vice-President-elect, and other top Trump officials. Mr Flynn was forced to resign the following week.
When asked to comment on Mr Sessions's contacts with Mr Kislyak, Senator Franken said in a statement to The Washington Post on Wednesday: "If it's true that Attorney-General Sessions met with the Russian ambassador in the midst of the campaign, then I am very troubled that his response to my questioning during his confirmation hearing was, at best, misleading.
Senator Franken added: "It is now clearer than ever that the Attorney-General cannot, in good faith, oversee an investigation at the Department of Justice and the FBI of the Trump-Russia connection, and he must recuse himself immediately."
Current and former US officials say they see Mr Kislyak as a diplomat, not an intelligence operative. But they were not sure to what extent, if any, Mr Kislyak was aware of, or involved in, the covert Russian election campaign.
Michael McFaul, a Stanford University professor who, until 2014, served as US ambassador to Russia, said he was not surprised that Mr Kislyak would seek a meeting with Mr Sessions.
"The weird part is to conceal it," he said. "That was at the height of all the discussions of what Russia was doing during the election."
Two months before the September meeting, Mr Sessions attended a Heritage Foundation event in July on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention that was attended by about 50 ambassadors. When the event was over, a small group of ambassadors approached Mr Sessions as he was leaving the podium, and Mr Kislyak was among them, the Justice Department official said.
The Washington Post