The Trump administration says Attorney General Jeff Sessions was acting as a then-U.S. senator when he talked to Russia’s ambassador at an event during last year’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, but Mr. Sessions paid for convention travel expenses out of his own political funds and he spoke about Donald Trump’s campaign at the event, according to a person at the event and campaign-finance records.

Mr. Sessions made comments related to Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign at a Heritage Foundation event during the Republican convention in July, when he met with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, according to a person at the event in Cleveland.

Mr. Sessions on Thursday said he would recuse himself from involvement in any probe related to the 2016 presidential campaign, following disclosures that he met with the Russian ambassador during the convention, and later in his Senate office in Washington.

Sen. Chuck Schumer is calling for either a “special” or “independent” counsel to investigate alleged Russian contact with the 2016 Trump campaign. What’s the difference? WSJ’s Jason Bellini has #TheShortAnswer. Photo: AP

Interactions between U.S. senators and foreign ambassadors are relatively common. But Mr. Sessions has come under fire for not disclosing his contacts with Mr. Kislyak during his Senate confirmation hearing to become attorney general. Democratic lawmakers have accused him of misleading Congress and called on him to resign.

Representatives for the White House and Mr. Sessions have defended his failure to disclose his contacts with the Russian ambassador by arguing that the exchanges occurred in his capacity as a U.S. senator, rather than as a campaign official.

Mr. Sessions denied that he misled lawmakers during his confirmation hearing, calling the allegation “totally false” and saying his answers were “honest and correct” based on his understanding of the questions.


At the time Mr. Sessions met the Russian ambassador at the convention, he had been serving as chairman of Mr. Trump’s National Security Advisory Committee for more than four months.

“He was literally conducting himself as a United States senator,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday. He said Mr. Sessions didn’t discuss matters related to Mr. Trump’s campaign.

“This is what senators do in the course of conducting themselves in their jobs,” he said.

A spokesman for the Russian embassy didn’t respond to a request for comment.

With Attorney General Jeff Sessions recusing himself from any probe related to the 2016 campaign, all eyes will be on his soon-to-be-confirmed deputy, Rod Rosenstein. WSJ's Gerald Seib gives us insights on the current U.S. Attorney in Baltimore, who will now step up to face questions on the Russian investigation. Photo: AP

Attorney General Jeff Sessions denied that he misled lawmakers about his contacts with a Russian official and said he will recuse himself from any investigation related to the Trump presidential campaign. Photo: Getty

A U.S. counterintelligence probe of alleged communications between Russians and members of Mr. Trump’s campaign team has looked at Mr. Sessions’ contacts, people familiar with the matter said. It’s unclear if the probe is still looking at those contacts. The investigation is overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with several other agencies, officials have said. Counterintelligence probes seldom lead to public accusations or criminal charges.


The Senate Intelligence Committee and the FBI are looking into any possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia after the U.S. intelligence community concluded Russia was behind hacking that interfered with the 2016 campaign. Mr. Trump has denied any connection between his campaign and Russia.

Campaign-finance-disclosure records show Mr. Sessions’ re-election campaign account was used for travel expenses in Cleveland at the same time the Republican National Convention was held in July, rather than using official funds that would pay for travel by him or other members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

On July 16, two days before the convention began, his campaign account made two payments of $1,395 to the Sheraton Cleveland Airport. A week later, the account made two payments to the Westin Hotel in Cleveland totaling $223. All payments were described as for “lodging.”

No payments reimbursing Mr. Sessions appear in Mr. Trump’s campaign account, the records show.


Sarah Isgur Flores, a spokeswoman for Mr. Sessions, said she was unable to comment on his convention expenses.

Larry Noble, general counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan advocacy group, said Mr. Sessions likely used his campaign account, rather than official Senate funds, because as a senior adviser to the Trump campaign it would have been difficult to argue that he wasn’t attending the convention for any political purpose.

“If he was truly there solely as a member of the Armed Services Committee, then he could’ve used his legislative account,” Mr. Noble said.

One person at the Heritage event in Cleveland said Mr. Sessions left the impression he was there because of his role in the Trump campaign. This person said Mr. Sessions’ remarks in part were focused on Mr. Trump’s trade policy, saying the then-candidate would do away with multilateral trade deals.


Ms. Flores, Mr. Sessions’ spokeswoman, said the attorney general’s aides, who were at the Heritage Foundation event, don’t recall Mr. Sessions speaking about the election with Mr. Kislyak, though they couldn’t be sure, because the room was loud.

Staffers who were with him during a second meeting with Mr. Kislyak, which took place Sept. 8 in his Senate office, also didn’t recall any discussion of the election, she said.

Mr. Sessions didn’t definitively rule out the possibility that he had additional meetings.

“I don’t recall having met him before those two meetings,” he said at a news conference Thursday. He also said he doesn’t think he met with any Russian officials besides Mr. Kislyak.

Beside Mr. Sessions, the FBI inquiry has examined contacts between the Russian ambassador and Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser Mike Flynn, who resigned in February over his failure to accurately describe his conversations. Several other associates of Mr. Trump’s campaign also have come under federal scrutiny.

Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, now a senior White House adviser, met in December with Mr. Kislyak, along with Mr. Flynn, the White House said Thursday. A senior administration official said it was “a brief courtesy meeting at Trump Tower” in New York.

Another campaign aide, J.D. Gordon, met with Mr. Kislyak during the Republican convention, a White House spokeswoman said, adding to the number of known contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russian officials. Mr. Gordon couldn’t be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Mr. Sessions was the first sitting senator to back Mr. Trump, formally endorsing the New Yorker in February 2016. Mr. Sessions went on to become one of Mr. Trump’s most high-profile surrogates, speaking for him on cable television and serving as an ambassador to Capitol Hill, where many Republicans were skittish about Mr. Trump’s candidacy. Mr. Sessions went on to deliver the formal nomination of Mr. Trump at the Republican National Convention.

—Reid J. Epstein contributed to this article.

Write to Paul Sonne at paul.sonne@wsj.com, Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com and Carol E. Lee at carol.lee@wsj.com