Mass. Lawmakers Call for AG Sessions' Resignation

BEACON HILL, MA – Massachusetts lawmakers are calling for the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions following reports that he communicated with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential campaign.

U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and U.S. Reps. Katherine Clark, Seth Moulton, Jim McGovern, Michael Capuano, Joe Kennedy III, Stephen Lynch and Richard Neal and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, all Democrats, have called on Sessions to hang it up, citing testimony he made during his confirmation hearing denying having any contact with Russia during the campaign.

“I’m not aware of any of those activities,” Sessions said. “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians.”

But the Washington Post found that, according to Justice Department officials, Sessions spoke twice with Kislyak, including once in September.

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The Associated Press later confirmed the report.

Sessions late Thursday afternoon recused himself from any future campaign probes.

According to U.S. code covering perjury, anyone who "in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the government of the United States, knowingly and willfully ... makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation" is subject to a fine or up to five years in prison.

In a statement on Twitter, Warren said, "We need a special prosecutor totally independent of the AG. We need a real, bipartisan, transparent Congressional investigation into Russia. And we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions – who should have never been confirmed in the first place – to resign. We need it now."

Markey echoed Warren's call for an independent investigation into Russian ties and said Sessions "should resign."

Below are the statements from Massachusetts' U.S. representatives:

Healey said she was "saddened and deeply troubled by the revelations" and supports an investigation into the Trump administration's potential ties to Russia.

Cody Fenwick (Patch National Staff) contributed to this report.

AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File