The very next day, we learned that Sessions met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak at least twice while working with the Trump campaign — yet during his confirmation hearing he denied, under oath, having any such contacts. “I’m not aware of any of those activities,” Sessions said of Trump officials’ Russia contacts, “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.”

Amid calls for him to step down, at least from the FBI’s Russia investigation, Sessions said he would “recuse myself on anything that I should recuse myself on, that’s all I can tell you.”

The White House stuck by Sessions, claiming then-Democratic Senator Al Franken pushed the story to distract from Trump’s good press. But their relationship was strained by Sessions’ decision to step aside from the Russia investigation after facing questions about his own contacts during the 2016 campaign with Moscow’s ambassador to the United States. Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey backed Sessions’ decision to ask the IG to investigate FISA abuse, calling the move “precisely the right choice.”

“If anyone at DOJ should look into the circumstances of this FISA application, it is the IG, who reports to both the Attorney General and Congress,” he said in a statement.
Argentine President Mauricio Macri delivers a speech in the Congress to start the regular sessions for 2018.