President Trump defended Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday night, insisting that the former Alabama senator "did not say anything wrong" when he told senators during his confirmation that he didn't speak to Russian officials.
Trump appeared to be referring to Sessions' testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation, when he said he had not spoken to Russian officials. It was revealed Wednesday that Sessions twice spoke with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. last year.
"Jeff Sessions is an honest man. He did not say anything wrong," Trump said in a statement posted on Facebook. "He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not intentional."
Sessions came under fire Wednesday night amid revelations that he spoke with Russia's envoy to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak during the campaign. Sessions told the Judiciary panel at his confirmation hearing in January that he had no contact with Russian officials.
Facing pressure from lawmakers on Thursday, Sessions recused himself from any federal investigation of Russia's efforts to intervene in the 2016 presidential race.
Sessions' recusal came shortly after Trump told reporters that he had "total" faith in his attorney general and that he didn't think Sessions needed to recuse himself.
"The Democrats are overplaying their hand. They lost the election and now, they have lost their grip on reality," Trump said in his statement. "The real story is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total witch hunt!"
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