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People Think Trump's AG Committed This Crime With Russia Meetings

by John Haltiwanger
Win McNamee/Getty Images

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is set to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. ET, where the focus will be the ongoing investigation in Russia's interference in the U.S. presidential election.

This is the first time Sessions will address Congress since he recused himself from the Russia probe.

Sessions has come under fire in relation to the Russia investigation due to statements he made during his confirmation hearing to become attorney general.

On January 10, at his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Senator Al Franken asked Sessions how he would respond if he learned that anyone associated with the Trump campaign had communicated with the Russian government during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.

Sessions replied,

I'm not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.

But Sessions actually communicated with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak twice last year, according to The Washington Post.

At the time Sessions spoke with Kislyak, he was a senior member of the Armed Services Committee and one of Donald Trump's top foreign policy advisers.

Some believe Sessions may have committed perjury by failing to disclose his meetings with the Russian ambassador during his confirmation hearing.

After Jeff Sessions' confirmation hearing, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called for him to be investigated for perjury.

Senator Franken, among others, also said he believed Sessions committed perjury.

What is perjury?

Perjury is a felony. It happens when a person purposefully lies under oath.

In order to for someone to be proven guilty of committing perjury, you have to prove he or she deliberately didn't tell the truth.

Sessions, who amended his confirmation testimony to say he did meet with the Russian ambassador "a couple" of times, is reportedly expected to downplay any accusations of perjury during his testimony on Tuesday.