Jessica Estepa

USA TODAY

Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year met with the Russian ambassador to the United States — the same person whose conversations with former national security adviser Michael Flynn eventually led to Flynn's resignation.

How do the two situations compare? Here's the breakdown:

Flynn's conversations with the Russian ambassador happened after he was named as Trump's pick ...

Then-president-elect Trump named Flynn as national security adviser on Nov. 18, 2016. More than a month later, Flynn spoke with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Their call was captured on a wiretap.

... while Sessions' conversations happened while he was still a senator (and a Trump campaign surrogate)

Sessions met twice with Kislyak while he was a senator serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee: once in July 2016 and once in September 2016. Those meetings happened while Sessions was a campaign surrogate for Trump and chairman of Trump's national security advisory committee.

Flynn talked about sanctions ...

Amid federal investigations that Russia had tampered with the U.S. election, President Obama in December announced sanctions against Russia. Around this time, Flynn spoke with Kislyak and urged him not to retaliate.

... while it's not clear what Sessions talked about

Sessions spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said that the then-senator met with Kislyak because of his position on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Sessions said in a statement, "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."

Flynn did not tell the White House ...

Flynn said he "inadvertently briefed the Vice President-Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador." Vice President-elect Mike Pence then went on CBS' Face the Nation and said Flynn had not discussed sanctions with Kislyak.

... while Sessions didn't mention his meetings during his confirmation hearing and didn't tell the White House

Here's the crux of the issue: Sessions was asked during his confirmation hearing whether he was aware if Trump campaign associates had any contact with Russian government officials. Under oath, he responded that he did not, nor did he communicate with any Russian officials.

"There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer,'' Sessions spokeswoman Flores said.

Additionally, President Trump said Thursday he "wasn't aware at all" of Sessions' meetings with Kislyak, but voiced "total" confidence in his attorney general.

Flynn had to resign ...

Trump asked Flynn to resign because there had been an "evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation, and a series of other questionable instances" of Flynn not providing complete information, according to White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

... while Sessions recused himself from investigations

Sessions announced Thursday afternoon that he had recused himself from overseeing the continuing FBI investigation into Russia’s interference in last year’s election, despite Trump saying earlier in the day that he didn't think Sessions had to recuse himself.

Republican lawmakers were split on whether Sessions should recuse himself, while Democrats demanded he not be in charge of the probe. Additionally, some Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, called on on Sessions to resign.