During your confirmation hearing on January 10, 2017, when confronted with reports that there was a “continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump’s surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government,” you stated that you were “not aware of those activities.” You also said that you personally “did not have communications with the Russians, and I’m unable to comment on it.” Senator Leahy later asked you, in writing, whether you had “been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day.” You answered no. It was later revealed that you had, in fact, met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign—at least three times.

On October 18, 2017, during your most recent appearance before the Judiciary Committee, I asked you to clarify your shifting explanations for your own interactions with the Russian ambassador. Once again, instead of responding only to the questions asked, you revisited the initial reports of a “continuing exchange of information” between Russian operatives and the Trump campaign. You stated that when you were first confronted with this report during your confirmation hearing, you were “taken aback by this dramatic statement that I’d never heard before and knew nothing about.” You said that “a continuing exchange of information between Trump’s surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government…did not happen, at least not to my knowledge, and not with me.” Describing your January testimony, you said, “[a]nd I said, I’m not aware of those activities. And I wasn’t, and am not. I don’t believe they occurred.”