>> Justice Department confirms that Jeff Sessions met with Russian ambassador twice in 2016
"Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement of our country and must resign," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement late Wednesday.
>> Read the full statement here
The Washington Post reported Wednesday night that Sessions met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September, raising questions about a statement he made during his Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in January.
"I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians," said then-Sen. Sessions, who was on the Senate Armed Services Committee and an adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign, the Post reported.
Sessions also denied being in contact with anyone connected to the Russian government about the 2016 election in a response to a written question in January, the Post reported.
According to CNN, a Justice Department official said Sessions met with Kislyak as a member of the Armed Services Committee. Sessions' spokeswoman, Sarah Isgur Flores, added that Sessions "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," the Post reported.
A White House official echoed the sentiment, telling CNN that the meetings were "entirely consistent with his testimony."
"This is the latest attack against the Trump administration by partisan Democrats," the official told CNN.
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