Congress is investigating a possible additional meeting between now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Investigators are focusing on a possible meeting on April 27, 2016, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., according to a CNN report citing unnamed sources on Capitol Hill.
Then-candidate Donald Trump gave his first major foreign policy speech that night at the hotel, which is steps away from the Russian embassy. According to the report, then-Sen. Sessions and Kislyak attended a small, exclusive reception before the speech.
In March, it was reported that Sessions had two meetings with Kislyak during the campaign, which contradicted statements in his January confirmation hearing. Sessions had testified he did not have any communications with the Russians during the campaign.
The Department of Justice appointed special counsel to investigate the issue.
Sarah Isgur Flores, spokesperson for the department, issued the following statement in response to the report: “It is unfortunate that anonymous sources whose credibility will never face public scrutiny are continuously trying to hinder that process by peddling false stories to the mainstream media. The facts haven’t changed; the then-Senator did not have any private or side conversations with any Russian officials at the Mayflower Hotel.”
