On Wednesday evening, The Washington Post broke the news that Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke to Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. twice last year during President Trump’s campaign. During his recent confirmation hearing, Sessions denied ever having been in contact with Russia.

Shortly after the story broke last night, Sessions also released the following statement denying the allegations.

‘I’ve never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.’

According to NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell, The White House is, for now, standing by Attorney General Sessions, arguing that the story is “the latest attack against the Trump Administration by partisan Democrats.”

White House officials have also claimed that Sessions’ meetings with the Russian ambassador were related to his position as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, “which is entirely consistent with his testimony.”

The White House might have been able to get away with saying that Sessions’ conversations with the Russian ambassador were just business as usual if it weren’t for the fact that no other member of the Armed Services Committee has reported having to communicate with Russia as part of their job.

The Huffington Post’s Seth Abramson posted the following tweet about the situation:

BREAKING: NBC Can't Find Even _One_ Other Senate Armed Services Committee Member Who Spoke w/ Russian Ambassador Even Once; 20 of 20 Say No. — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 2, 2017

An official statement from Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) also works against the White House’s argument.

In her statement, Senator McCaskill, who is a senior member of the Armed Services Committee and a top-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, wrote:

‘It’s clear Attorney General Sessions misled the Senate — the question is, why? I’ve been on the Senate Armed Services Committee for 10 years, and in that time, have had no call from, or meeting with, the Russian ambassador. Ever. That’s because ambassadors call members of Foreign Relations Committee.’

Despite the White House’s best efforts at downplaying the situation, a number of Democratic lawmakers have made it clear that they are not taking the allegations against Sessions lightly. Several members of the House and Senate released statements on Wednesday night calling for Sessions’ resignation, and the American Civil Liberties Union has also demanded an investigation into the potential perjury.

Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images.