From US Senator to Attorney General: Jeff Sessions' u-turn on Russia since allying with Donald Trump

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday announced that he would recuse himself from the investigation into the Russian cyber attack on the Democratic Party during the 2016 presidential election. Sessions withdrew amid a firestorm over not disclosing during his Senate testimony that he had contact with a Russian ambassador before President Donald Trump took office. 

Sessions' announcement came after calls from several congressional Republicans to recuse himself and top Democrats like Chuck Schumer's call to resign for the "good of the country".

According to the Washington Post, Sessions, a former US senator, received Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in his office in September. The other encounter was in July at a Heritage Foundation event that was attended by about 50 ambassadors, during the Republican National Convention, the Post said.

The US Justice Department confirmed the two meetings, saying they were in Sessions' capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and there was nothing untoward about them. Sessions also denied any wrongdoing.

This raises ethical issues and legal questions because the revelations contradict his testimony in January during his Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for attorney general. During his confirmation hearing, Sessions responded to a question from Democratic Senator Al Franken saying that he did not "have communications with the Russians" during the course of the presidential campaign.

"There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer," Sarah Isgur Flores, a Sessions spokeswoman in a statement reported by Reuters. "He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign - not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee."

The scandal has rekindled questions about allegations of Trump associates' contact with Russia before his inauguration on January 20. Trump drew criticism from Democrats and some Republicans for calling for improved relations with Russia during his campaign.

In February, Michael Flynn, Trump's national security adviser resigned after it emerged that the retired lieutenant general discussed US sanctions on Russia with Sergey Kislyak before Trump's inauguration and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.

(UPDATED) These Trump insiders have ties to Russia:
Flynn
Sessions
Ross
Tillerson
Page
Manafort
Ivanka
Donald Jr
Cohen
Stone
-> Kushner <-

— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) March 2, 2017 

The alleged meetings Sessions had with the Russian ambassador is more astonishing because for almost 20 years he was to be considered a hardliner against Russia, before he got involved in Trump's election campaign.

Vox reported two previous instances that give insight into Sessions' previous stance on Russia.

In September 2008, on the Senate floor, Sessions warned of Russia's Vladimir Putin saying, "Russia's recent actions in Georgia remind us that country, which we once hoped was on a path to greater integration into the global world community, might again be seeking to restore old Soviet ideas of dominance throughout their neighbours and in Eastern Europe, all of which should serve as a motivation to move ahead with the necessary capabilities to defend ourselves and our allies from missile attack, in particular."

Another instance was how his public criticism of Putin shaped how he voted in the Senate. As a Senator, in 2010 Sessions voted against the New START treaty to reduce nuclear weapons because, he argued, it made the US "too vulnerable" and would give Russia a lot more in the deal. “The Russians did not win with missile defence,” he said during debates over the treaty. “They have already won and have attempted to codify it with this treaty.”

“I am deeply disappointed the Russians have been so intransigent, hardheaded about this treaty and other relations with the United States,” he said. “If they have nothing to hide, what is going on here? I am concerned about this."

His stance began to change in March 2016 after it was announced at a breakfast meeting hosted by the American Council  for Capital Formation that he was made Trump's foreign policy advisor. At the time, Sessions said “an argument can be made there is no reason for the US and Russia to be at this loggerheads.”

“Somehow, someway we ought to be able to break that logjam,” he said. “Putin may not be able to be dealt with, but I don’t condemn [Trump’s] instincts that we ought to attempt to do that.”

Since joining Trump in his campaign and now being part of his new administration, questions remain over what has changed the attorney general's stance on the country.