DOJ: Sessions to Respond in Writing to Russia Questions

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will offer written responses to Democrats’ inquiries about his meeting with the Russian ambassador last year, the Department of Justice said Friday. The news came after nine Democratic senators sent a letter demanding Sessions be called before Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s panel to answer questions about why he failed to disclose his contacts with the Russian ambassador earlier. Grassley said there would not be a hearing, but a Justice Department spokesman told Reuters that Sessions would respond in writing on Monday to the relevant questions. Amid calls for his resignation over the scandal, Sessions has denied any wrongdoing, and President Donald Trump has backed him up, saying Democrats are exploiting the situation for their own political purposes. The Washington Post reported earlier this week that Sessions had spoken with Russian Ambassdor to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak twice during Trump’s campaign, though he said he’d had no contact with Russian officials during his confirmation hearing. On Thursday, Reuters cited two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity as saying Sessions was one of many individuals under scrutiny by investigators as part of an ongoing probe into the Trump team’s communications with Russian officials.