Sessions: Trump campaign ‘a form of chaos every day’

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday characterized President Trump’s campaign as “a form of chaos” during testimony on Capitol Hill, suggesting that he did not remembering certain meetings or conversations with other aides due to the grind of the campaign. 

Sessions made the comments while defending his past statements regarding the Trump campaign and Russia before the House Judiciary Committee. He was specifically addressing discussions he had with campaign foreign policy advisers Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, the latter of whom recently pleaded guilty for lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russia-connected individuals.

Sessions said during his confirmation hearing at the start of the year that he was not aware of any contacts between the campaign and Moscow, statements that recent developments have seemed to contradict.

{mosads}“It was a brilliant campaign, I think, in many ways. But it was a form of chaos every day from day one,” Sessions said on Tuesday. “We traveled sometimes to several places in one day, sleep was in short supply, and I was still a full-time senator with a very full schedule.”

Sessions said that he initially did not recall a March 2016 meeting during which Papadopoulos mentioned brokering a meeting between the campaign and the Russian government — but said that recent press reports and court filings had refreshed his memory.

“After reading his account and to the best of my recollection, I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government or any other foreign government,” Sessions said.

Sessions said he would have “gladly” reported the exchange if he had remembered it.

Sessions also said that he did not recall a conversation with Page during which the former adviser says he told Sessions “in passing” of his impending trip to Moscow. Sessions, however, did not challenge Page’s account to the House Intelligence Committee.

“My story has never changed,” Sessions said. “I have always told the truth.”