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.