US attorney general Jeff Sessions faces resignation calls
US President Donald Trump's attorney general, Jeff Sessions, is facing an opposition calls to resign after less than a month in the job, following news he met with the Russian ambassador to the US twice during the presidential election campaign.
Sessions, who failed to disclose the meetings to the Senate during his confirmation hearing in January, has been accused of lying under oath by senior Democrats in Washington.
Another of Trump's key appointments was forced to resign last month. National security adviser Michael Flynn was found to have had similar improper meetings with Russian officials.
Sessions has admitted he did meet with Russian officials during the campaign, and argued that the meetings were not related to the election but rather connected to his work as a US senator.
"I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign," said Sessions in a statement. "I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
Trump's administration has been widely condemned for its apparent links to Russia, after government intelligence agencies found that the Kremlin had attempted to interfere with election results by hacking Democratic National Congress email accounts.
Nancy Pelosi, leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, called on Sessions to resign in what would -- if that transpired -- be another humiliating defeat for Trump's administration.
"After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the attorney general must resign," Pelosi said. She also called for a full investigation into potential connections between Trump's team and the Kremlin.
"There must be an independent, bipartisan, outside commission to investigate the Trump political, personal and financial connections to the Russians," said Pelosi.
Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House oversight committee, issued a statement also calling for Sessions’ immediate resignation.
"It is inconceivable that even after Michael Flynn was fired for concealing his conversations with the Russians that Attorney General Sessions would keep his own conversations secret for several more weeks," Cummings said, alleging Sessions’ testimony was demonstrably false.
"Yet he let it stand for weeks – and he continued to let it stand even as he watched the president tell the entire nation he didn’t know anything about anyone advising his campaign talking to the Russians."