Sessions said to have not disclosed meetings with Russian ambassador when applying for security clearance
The Justice Department told CNN that Attorney General Jeff Sessions didn't disclose his meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak when he applied for security clearance.
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores told CNN that an FBI employee told Sessions and his team that he did not need to disclose meetings he had with foreign officials that occurred in his role as a senator.
In a subsequent statement, the Justice Department sought to explain why the meetings were not disclosed.
"As a United States Senator, the Attorney General met hundreds—if not thousands—of foreign dignitaries and their staff," Deputy Director of Public Affairs Ian Prior said in a statement.
"In filling out the SF-86 form, the Attorney General's staff consulted with those familiar with the process, as well as the FBI investigator handling the background check, and was instructed not to list meetings with foreign dignitaries and their staff connected with his Senate activities."
The FBI declined to comment to CNN.
The revelation renews scrutiny on the meeting between Sessions and Kislyak. In the attorney general's confirmation hearing, Sen. Al Franken , D-Minn., asked what Sessions would do if he learned that someone in the Trump staff had communicated with the Kremlin during the campaign.
Sessions replied, "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."
While Democrats allege that Sessions misled the Senate Judiciary Committee with that remark, Flores disagreed. She argued that the question was about meetings that took place in his capacity as a surrogate for the campaign, not for those which happened in his capacity as a member of the Armed Services Committee.
Amid the fallout, Sessions ultimately recused himself from investigations into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible connections to the Trump campaign.
