{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/leahy-ag-sessions-must-return-to-judiciary-committee-for-under-oath-testimony-to-address-new-revelations", "Leahy: AG Sessions Must Return To Judiciary Committee For Under-Oath Testimony To Address New Revelations", "2017-11-02", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Patrick Leahy", "L000174", "www.leahy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.02.17\n\t\t\t Leahy: AG Sessions Must Return To Judiciary Committee For Under-Oath Testimony To Address New Revelations \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t[On Monday, unsealed court records revealed that George Papadopoulos \u2013 former foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign \u2013 pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about interactions with Russian agents during the 2016 campaign. \u00a0Court documents show that there was a March 31, 2016, \u201cnational security meeting\u201d in Washington, D.C., involving candidate Trump and other advisors, where Papadopoulos explained that he had connections to the Russian government and he offered to \u201chelp arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and [Russian] President Putin.\u201d Then-Senator Sessions, serving as chairman of the campaign\u2019s national security team, also attended this meeting, sitting just a few seats away from Papadopoulos.\u00a0 Sessions reportedly \u201cshut down\u201d Papadopoulos and asserted that the topic should not be discussed again.\u00a0 Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a leading member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has confronted the Attorney General in two hearings this year about his communications with individuals with connections to the Russian government in the context of concerns that members of the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin in its efforts to elect Donald Trump.\u00a0 Leahy\u2019s statement follows:]\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\r\n\u201cAttorney General Sessions needs to come back before the Senate Judiciary Committee. \u00a0The description of the March 2016 meeting contained in unsealed court documents is impossible to reconcile with the Attorney General\u2019s appearance before the Judiciary Committee just two weeks ago.\u00a0 In that hearing, he again testified under oath that he was not aware of any communications between individuals affiliated with the Trump campaign and Russian officials. \u00a0The Attorney General was already given an opportunity to correct his earlier misleading answers to me and Senator Franken in January through written, supplemental testimony. \u00a0Yet he only continued to mislead. \u00a0He now needs to come back before the Committee, in person, under oath, to explain why he cannot seem to provide truthful, complete answers to these important and relevant questions.\u201d\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Press Contact \n\t\t\t\tDavid Carle: 202-224-3693\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\t\n\t\n\t\n  \n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/leahy-ag-sessions-must-return-to-judiciary-committee-for-under-oath-testimony-to-address-new-revelations"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7026530113071203, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}