Russian ambassador to skip Gridiron Club dinner: report

The Russian ambassador at the center of controversies surrounding President Trump’s team has pulled out of a high-profile dinner event he was scheduled to attend, Politico reported Saturday.

Sergey Kislyak was expected to appear at the prestigious annual Gridiron Club Dinner on Saturday night, but cancelled Friday. Vice President Mike Pence is among the dinner’s headliners.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions faced fire after revelations this week that he met with Kislyak during the real estate mogul’s presidential bid.

Sessions recused himself from federal investigations into Russian election meddling and the Trump campaign’s ties to Moscow on Thursday, after The Washington Post reported a day earlier that he twice met with Kislyak, then denied doing so during his confirmation hearings.

{mosads}Trump’s first national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned last month amid revelations that he discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with Kislyak and misled Pence and others about the conversations.

It was also revealed on Thursday that Flynn had attended a meeting with Kislyak and Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner in December.

Two other Trump campaign aides, J.D. Gordon and Carter Page, are also said to have met with Kislyak at an event during the Republican National Convention in July.

It wasn’t clear whether Kislyak’s decision to back out of the Saturday night dinner was affected by the slew of news reports about his meetings. Politico reported that the Russian embassy would not explain the move or say who invited the ambassador in the first place.

The Gridiron Club is among the most prestigious journalist clubs in the country, and its annual dinner is considered a highly exclusive event. The Post reported on Wednesday that Trump would not attend the dinner, but Pence is headlining, along with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).