White House blames Democrats for Sessions revelations

In a statement Thursday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders cast revelations about Attorney General Jeff Sessions' contact with Russia during the presidential election as an "attack against the Trump administration by partisan Democrats." Sanders insisted Sessions' recently revealed conversations with Sergey Kislyak, Russian ambassador to the United States, during President Trump's campaign were "entirely consistent with his testimony" given during his Senate confirmation hearing in January.
During his hearing, Sessions explicitly said he "did not have communications with the Russians" when asked by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) how he would handle information about contact between Trump's campaign and Russia, if such reports were to arise. Sanders insisted that Sessions, at the time a senator, "met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee."
She said it was "no surprise" Democrats like Franken would be "pushing this story immediately following President Trump's successful address to the nation." Trump gave a speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night; news about Sessions broke late Wednesday.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members