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<\/p>\nJeff Sessions Lied to Congress About Opposing Trump Campaign\u2019s Russia Outreach: Witnesses<\/b>
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions\u2019 testimony to Congress that he opposed a proposal by former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos that the Trump campaign meet with Russians has been contradicted by three people who have been interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Reuters reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n Sessions, through Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores, declined to comment beyond his prior testimony. The special counsel\u2019s office also declined to comment. Spokeswomen for the Democrats and Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee did not comment.<\/p>\n Reuters was unable to determine whether Mueller is probing discrepancies in accounts of the March 2016 meeting.<\/p>\n The three accounts, which have not been reported, raise new questions about Sessions\u2019 testimony regarding contacts with Russia during the campaign.<\/p>\n Sessions told Congress that he \u201cpushed back\u201d against the proposal, but the three witnesses who spoke with Reuters said he offered encouraging words.<\/p>\n In related news, a new book reports that Trump \u201cpersonally encouraged\u201d Papadopoulos to \u201cpursue a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.\u201d<\/p>\n Yahoo reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n Although one of the campaign officials present, J.D. Gordon, has said the idea was shot down by then Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, Papadopoulos told Mueller\u2019s investigators that Trump encouraged him, saying he found the idea \u201cinteresting,\u201d according to the book, which cites sources familiar with his questioning by Mueller\u2019s investigators.<\/p>\n Trump looked at Sessions, as if he expected him to follow up with Papadopoulos, and Sessions nodded in response, the authors write. Sessions has said he has \u201cno clear recollection\u201d of the exchange with Papadopoulos. A White House official said that others at the meeting remember it differently than Papadopoulos.<\/p>\n The post Jeff Sessions Lied to Congress About Opposing Trump Campaign\u2019s Russia Outreach: Witnesses<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n