Sessions Used Campaign Funds For Trip Where He Met Russian Ambassador: Report
Campaign finance records show that Sessions used political funds to pay for trip to RNC where he met Russian ambassador
A new report in the Wall Street Journal Thursday confirmed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions used campaign funds to pay for a trip to the Republican National Convention where he ended up meeting with the Russian ambassador.
According to the WSJ report, “The Trump administration says Attorney General Jeff Sessions was acting as a then-U.S. senator when he talked to Russia’s ambassador at an event during last year’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, but Mr. Sessions paid for convention travel expenses out of his own political funds and he spoke about Donald Trump’s campaign at the event, according to a person at the event and campaign-finance records.”
The news from the Wall Street Journal clearly calls into question the already flimsy explanation from the Trump administration that when Sessions met the Russian ambassador at a Trump campaign function at the Republican National Convention that he was doing so in an official capacity as a Senator and not as a part of the campaign.
On Thursday Sessions announced he would recuse himself from the investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia and the Russian hacking of the 2016 election.
The Journal also reported that, “Mr. Sessions made comments related to Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign at a Heritage Foundation event during the Republican convention in July, when he met with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.”
Top Democrats have called on Attorney General Sessions to resign for lying to the Senate during his confirmation hearing.
The Wall Street Journal also noted that “At the time Mr. Sessions met the Russian ambassador at the convention, he had been serving as chairman of Mr. Trump’s National Security Advisory Committee for more than four months.”
The new revelations fly in the face of the what White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said about Sessions meeting with the Russian ambassador.
“He was literally conducting himself as a United States senator.”
“This is what senators do in the course of conducting themselves in their jobs,” Spicer said.
Campaign finance disclosure records show Sessions used campaign funds
The Wall Street Journal report noted, “Campaign-finance-disclosure records show Mr. Sessions’ re-election campaign account was used for travel expenses in Cleveland at the same time the Republican National Convention was held in July, rather than using official funds that would pay for travel by him or other members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.’
The report went on to say, “On July 16, two days before the convention began, his campaign account made two payments of $1,395 to the Sheraton Cleveland Airport. A week later, the account made two payments to the Westin Hotel in Cleveland totaling $223. All payments were described as for ‘lodging.'”
