US Attorney General Jeff Sessions [official website] sent a letter [text, PDF] to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] on Monday in an attempt to clarify his response to a question from Senator Al Franken [official website] regarding connections between then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign team and a Russian ambassador. In response to a question from Franken during his January 10 confirmation hearing, Sessions replied that he was “not aware of any … activities” between members of the campaign and a Russian ambassador, later identified as Sergey Kislyak [official profile, in Russian]. Sessions replied, “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians.” In his letter to the Senate, in which he admits to two meetings with Kislyak in July and September, Sessions stands by his response to Franken’s question, claiming he “did not mention communications [he] had had with the Russian Ambassador over the years because the question did not ask about them.” He also mentions in his letter that he recused [JURIST report] himself from a probe into Russian interference with the election after ethical concerns arose regarding his involvement.

Sessions’ letter is the latest headline regarding Russia’s potential involvement in the 2016 presidential election. Earlier this month National Security Advisor Mike Flynn resigned [Politico Report] amid reports that he had discussions with Russian officials regarding sanctions and lied about those discussions. In January a group of US Senators introduced legislation [JURIST report] aimed at implementing mandatory sanctions against Russia for its interference in the election. The bill was introduced just days after a report [text, PDF] by the US intelligence community determined that “Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election.” In December the White House announced that sanctions would be enacted [JURIST report] against Russia as a response to Russia’s involvement in the hacking during the recent election and for the treatment of US diplomats in Russia.