Russian Lobbyist Says He Attended Two Dinners With Jeff Sessions
Russian Lobbyist Contradicts Sworn Testimony By Jeff Sessions
A lobbyist that works for Russian interests attended two dinners hosted by Jeff Sessions during the height of the presidential campaign in summer 2016, according to a report by The Guardian.
The claims by lobbyist Richard Burt contradict Sessions’s recent sworn testimony in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Sessions said that he “[didn’t] believe” he had been in contact with any Russian representative “including any American lobbyist or agent of any Russian company” during the presidential campaign.
Sessions was a high-level advisor and surrogate for Donald Trump’s campaign.
Burt has worked as a lobbyist for Russia’s Alfa Bank, and previously lobbied for a pipeline company that that was later acquired by a Russian state-run energy company.
According to The Guardian, Burt said he was invited to two dinners hosted by Sessions last summer.
In addition to Sessions, other former Republican foreign policy officials were also reportedly in attendance.
Burt’s ties to the Trump campaign have previously come under scrutiny.
In April, 2016, Trump delivered a speech in Washington D.C.’s Mayflower Hotel, where Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak was in attendance.
Burt told NPR he was “asked to provide a draft for that speech, and parts of that draft survived into the final version.”
You can read the full report by The Guardian here.
[image via screengrab]
