The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed an ethics complaint with the Alabama State Bar on Thursday alleging Attorney General Jeff Sessions made false statements about contact with Russian officials during his confirmation testimony in January.
“False testimony made under oath is one of the most serious ethical offenses a lawyer can make and one any state bar should investigate vigorously,” ACLU National Political Director Faiz Shakir said in a statement.
“Alabamians and Americans from all walks of life should be assured that the organizations responsible for regulating lawyers in their state takes ethical violations seriously — no matter how powerful that lawyer may be.”
The complaint asks for Sessions’ home state to investigate whether the former senator – who has been a member of the bar since 1973 – violated a rule that a lawyer should not “engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.”
During his confirmation hearing, Sessions said he “did not have any communications with the Russians.”
A March 1st report found the then-foreign policy adviser to President Trump’s campaign first talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July following an event at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. A small group of ambassadors had approached Sessions after the event and Kislyak spoke individually with Sessions at the time.
Then in September, Kislyak met Sessions at his office on Capitol Hill.
“Few events are more corrosive to a democracy than having the Attorney General make false statements under oath about a matter the Justice Department is investigating,” Christopher Anders, deputy director of the ACLU’s legislative office, said in a statement.
“Jeff Sessions told a falsehood to the Senate, and did nothing to correct his statement until he was exposed by the press more than a month later.”
