Trump Defends Sessions, Calls Russia Accusations ‘Total Witch Hunt’

Trump Defends Sessions, Calls Russia Accusations ‘Total Witch Hunt’
President Donald Trump (C) delivers remarks before the swearing in ceremony for Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Feb. 9, 2017. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
3/3/2017
Updated:
3/3/2017

President Donald Trump defended Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a series of tweets on Friday, calling accusations against his top law official a “total witch hunt!”

Trump repeated his view that the allegations against Sessions were a way for Democrats to explain the results of the 2016 presidential election.

“This whole narrative is a way of saving face for Democrats losing an election that everyone thought they were supposed to win,” he tweeted.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington on March 2, 2017. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington on March 2, 2017. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Sessions, in a press conference on Thursday, said he would recuse himself from any future investigation into alleged Russian interference during the election, after intelligence leaks revealed he had met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak last year during the presidential race.

While it is not out of the ordinary for Russian officials to meet with U.S. officials on both sides of the aisle, it was Sessions’s failure to mention it that has Democrats up in arms.

When questioned during his confirmation hearing, Sessions denied having communicated with Russian officials.

“I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I … did not have communications with the Russians, and I’m unable to comment on it,” he said.