Sergei Kislyak, former Russian ambassador to the U.S., said the list of Trump officials he met or spoken with is “so long,” it would take him more than 20 minutes to name them.
“First, I’m never going to do that,” he said in an interview with Russia-1, a state-owned Russian television channel, CNBC reported. “And second, the list is so long that I’m not going to be able to go through it in 20 minutes.”
The comment came following Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, where he fielded questions about meeting with Kislyak in 2016 as an Alabama senator and a foreign policy adviser to Trump’s campaign.
Originally, Sessions had said he “did not have communications with the Russians,” but later reports emerged emerged that said Sessions had met with Kislyak twice during the campaign. In response, Sessions wrote a letter to Congress saying his testimony was accurate, but acknowledged he had met with Kislyak twice.
Sessions recused himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin as a result.
Kislyak also was in contact with former national security adviser Mike Flynn, who resigned from his post after it was revealed he had not been forthcoming to the Trump administration about his contacts with Russian officials.
Kislyak’s role as Russian ambassador ended in August.
Special counsel Robert Mueller is spearheading the investigation to determine whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
