It seems that Trump administration officials just can’t avoid being implicated in improper contact with Russia. What gives?

What’s going on?

Newly-minted Attorney General Jeff Sessions said during his Senate confirmation hearings that he had no contact with Russian officials last year, when he was aiding the Trump campaign. Now, it turns out he met with the Russian ambassador twice last year. On the heels of the Flynn scandal, which was over a virtually identical issue, this looks especially bad.

Why is it important?

It is looking more and more like key figures in the Trump administration were in close contact with Russian officials prior to the election, and prior to Trump’s inauguration, despite repeated and vociferous claims that no such contact occurred. This is concerning on many levels. While not necessarily illegal, there is the appearance of impropriety in such contact not merely to have occurred, but then to be actively denied by the participants in that contact–as if they have something to hide.

Why did Sessions lie (or at least mislead) about his contact with the Russian ambassador? Why not simply be honest? Sessions claimed that his meetings with the ambassador were perfectly routine, part of his duties as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, but a fellow committee member refutes this, saying that ambassadors do not meet with individual Senators from the Armed Services Committee, as Sessions did.

This looks bad. The New York Times is calling for Sessions to resign.

What can I do?

Same as with the Flynn scandal, really. Contact your Congressional Representative and Senators and demand an investigation into Sessions’ activities, and the administration’s actions during the campaign. How deep does the Russia connection go? What else have they lied about? The public deserves to know.

Photo by Gage Skidmore