Jeff Sessions 'lied under oath'

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was under fire yesterday after it was revealed he met twice last year with Russia's ambassador to Washington, seemingly contradicting statements he made in Senate confirmation hearings.

The revelation cast a fresh cloud over President Donald Trump's administration, which has repeatedly denied any suspected ties between members of his election team and Russia -- which US intelligence says interfered in the 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton.

The White House quickly labeled the report an attack by partisan Democrats, confirming the meetings but arguing Sessions did nothing wrong.

In a statement, the Trump administration's top law enforcement official, said: "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."

But with US intelligence agencies, the Justice Department -- led by Sessions himself -- and four Congressional committees examining the Russia scandal, Democrats demanded that Sessions recuse himself from the investigations and for Congress to name an independent special investigator to oversee a broad probe.

The Washington Post reported late Wednesday that Sessions -- formerly a senator who advised Trump's campaign on foreign policy and other issues -- met Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September, just as accusations of Russian interference in the election were mounting.

Sessions, however, told his confirmation hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 10 that he did not know of contacts between Trump campaign members and Russia.

"I did not have communications with the Russians," he said under oath.

Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, called for Sessions to step down.

"After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russian, the attorney general must resign," she said.

Democrat Elijah Cummings of the House Oversight Committee echoed that call.

A White House official dubbed the latest report an "attack."

"This is the latest attack against the Trump administration by partisan Democrats," the official said.

"Sessions met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony."

Sessions was confirmed as attorney general on February 8, and sworn in a day later, moving in place to oversee Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation probes into the alleged communications between Trump campaign officials and Moscow.

The New York Times reported two weeks ago, citing US intelligence sources, that three campaign staff -- including campaign chief Paul Manafort -- had communicated with Russian intelligence officers.

The White House also labeled that report "false" and has accused Democrats, the media and the intelligence community of a political effort to undermine the Trump administration.