Story highlights GOP Congressman: 'I don't know why he wasn't more clear'

Democrat says lying rampant in Trump administration

(CNN) Rep. Sean Duffy, a Wisconsin Republican, said Thursday he was disappointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions had not been more forthcoming during his Senate confirmation hearings about two 2016 meetings with the Russian ambassador.

"I don't know why he wasn't more clear," Duffy said on CNN's "New Day." "This is public information. People know these meetings happen. That's why I wish he would have been more clear."

Sessions met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak -- the same diplomat whose discussions with President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, ultimately led to Flynn's dismissal -- on two occasions, according to the Justice Department.

Asked at his confirmation hearings by Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat, about a CNN report on Russia's contacts with Trump campaign officials during the campaign, Sessions said he was unaware of any contacts with the campaign and added that he, himself, "did not have communications with the Russians."

Duffy on Thursday told CNN's Alisyn Camerota he believed that, despite the controversy, Sessions should not recuse himself from the wider Russian inquiry.

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