Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak said that it would take him more than 20 minutes to name all of the Trump officials he’s met with or spoken to on the phone, CNBC reports.
Said Kislyak: “First, I’m never going to do that. And second, the list is so long that I’m not going to be able to go through it in 20 minutes.”
“Ending one the most turbulent tenures of a Washington-based ambassador in recent memory, the Kremlin has decided to recall its ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak,” three individuals familiar with the decision tell BuzzFeed News.
“The decision to bring Kislyak back to Russia rather than appoint him to a senior position at the United Nations in New York, as several outlets previously reported, comes amid investigations by the FBI and Congress into the 66-year-old diplomat’s contacts with President Donald Trump’s top aides during the 2016 presidential campaign.”
Said one diplomat: “He could use some time away.”
“Congressional investigators are examining whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions had an additional private meeting with Russia’s ambassador during the presidential campaign,” CNN reports.
“Investigators on the Hill are requesting additional information, including schedules from Sessions… They are focusing on whether such a meeting took place April 27, 2016, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, where then-candidate Donald Trump was delivering his first major foreign policy address. Prior to the speech, then-Sen. Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak attended a small VIP reception with organizers, diplomats and others.”
In an October speech, Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak “denied meeting with Donald Trump or campaign officials during the course of 2016 presidential election, but acknowledged that he met with members of Congress and others who approached him at events,” CNN reports.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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