First on CNN: AG Sessions did not disclose meetings with Russian officials, DOJ says
Source: CNN
Washington (CNN)Attorney General Jeff Sessions did not disclose meetings he had last year with Russian officials when he applied for his security clearance, the Justice Department told CNN Wednesday.
Sessions, who met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at least two times last year, didn't note those interactions on the form, which requires him to list "any contact" he or his family had with a "foreign government" or its "representatives" over the past seven years, officials said.
The new information from the Justice Department is the latest example of Sessions failing to disclose contacts he had with Russian officials. He has come under withering criticism from Democrats following revelations that he did not disclose the same contacts with Kislyak during his Senate confirmation hearings earlier this year.
Sessions initially listed a year's worth of meetings with foreign officials on the security clearance form, according to Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores. But she says he and his staff were then told by an FBI employee who assisted in filling out the form, known as the SF-86, that he didn't need to list dozens of meetings with foreign ambassadors that happened in his capacity as a senator.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/24/politics/jeff-sessions-russian-officials-meetings/
NastyRiffraff
(12,448 posts)Smart people! Fantastic people with big hands!
MelissaB
(16,420 posts)Ohioblue22
(1,430 posts)something else . rhe news is almost meaningless . so and so did something illegal and nothing happens no arrests because so and so was allowed to change things so that now presto no illegality
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)that happened in his capacity as a senator, because they were in his capacity as Senator not as a member of Trump's transition team (wink, wink).
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,661 posts)He's arguing pretty aggressively with that weasel Chaffetz.
furtheradu
(1,865 posts)(not about blitzer balls, just their conversation!)
TiA!
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,661 posts)Chaffetz kept claiming it was up to the Obama admin to have vetted him and it was their fault if he didn't have the proper clearance, and Wolf insisted (correctly) that Flynn's previous clearance from Flynn's former job as DNI would have had to have been renewed and Flynn would have had to have been re-vetted by The Trump admin to get the clearance he needed for NSA. It got a bit heated but Wolf didn't back down.
furtheradu
(1,865 posts)Way to go, wuffy!
panader0
(25,816 posts)nycbos
(6,034 posts)Isn't why he allegedly recused himself from the Russia investigation?
Keyword being allegedly.
Peachhead22
(1,078 posts)...Sessions failed to mention it to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearings. A major no-no, but I think he was allowed to amend his testimony. So technically not illegal.
Lying/omitting something that big on his security clearance is a whole different kettle of fish.
nycbos
(6,034 posts)Thank you. That is a much bigger deal.
vkkv
(3,384 posts)Freethinker65
(10,009 posts)If he is not forced to resign the Justice Department is a joke.
mpcamb
(2,870 posts)I'm not a lawyer.
I can't argue a case.
But I'm less blind than that justice statue.
How about some Courage here!?!
Somebody take it on and put him whimpy, sorry, dishonest butt in a courtroom!
furtheradu
(1,865 posts)Thanks for this! Love to think this racist hypocrit is going DOWN!
PatSeg
(47,370 posts)Did all these people really think that no one would find out about their associations with an adversarial foreign government? Are they honestly that stupid? The person appointed to the top law enforcement job in the country evidently knows so little about intelligence and federal investigation, that he thought he could lie and get away with it.
The immorality is topped only by the complete and utter stupidity.
Peachhead22
(1,078 posts)I believe the penalty for lying on a security clearance is up to 5 years. And "Oops, I forgot to mention that." Won't cut it as an excuse.
cstanleytech
(26,280 posts)is a casual dinner thats a one time thing where nothing happened but multiple encounters is a deliberate attempt to conceal.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)Should be convicted and shipped to Siberia
bresue
(1,007 posts)FBIs who supposedly told hm wrong...what a joke! Ruplicans must live in a bubble...does he not realize we can check that fact?
Dopers_Greed
(2,640 posts)I'm sure he'll fit right in with the Aryan Brotherhood in prison.
captain queeg
(10,156 posts)My ex had to get a secret security clearance to work for the FBI. They had agents interviewing all her contacts, twice. I wonder if as an elected official Trump could skate on that. I don't see how he could pass a top secret, or whatever is above that, clearance investigation.
MedusaX
(1,129 posts)Certainly, the US Attorney General should be able to navigate his way through a standard government background check / Security Clearance form....
J-Beau and the FBI employee he sought clarification from should both be fired for either:
A: conspiring to falsify a federal security clearance application
Or
B: Having a shared IQ no greater than that of a rock.
FFS....
the instructions provided at the beginning of each section are pretty damn clear...
so, unless J-Beau & Kislyak were only discussing how to renew a visa or cross the border... then all their little meetings should have been disclosed/ documented on the SF-86.....
Questions regarding all things related to foreign countries begin on
Pg 59 of the SF-86
Section 19 - Foreign Contacts
A foreign national is defined as any person who is not a citizen or national of the U.S.
>snip<
Section 20B - Foreign Business, Professional Activities, and Foreign Government Contacts - (Continued)
For this question, 'Immediate Family' means your spouse, parents, step-parents, siblings, half and step-siblings, children, step-children, and cohabitant.
20B.6
Have you or any member of your immediate family in the past seven (7) years had any contact with a foreign government, its establishment (such as embassy, consulate, agency, military service, intelligence or security service, etc.) or its representatives, whether inside or outside the U.S.?
(Answer 'No' if the contact was for routine visa applications and border crossings related to either official U.S. Government travel or foreign travel on a U.S. passport.)
YES
Complete the following if you responded 'Yes' to you or any member of your immediate family having in the past seven (7) years had any contact with a foreign government, its establishment (such as embassy, consulate, agency, military service, intelligence or security service, etc.) or its representatives, whether inside or outside the U.S.
>snip<
https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf86-non508.pdf
riversedge
(70,182 posts)the information. Seems to me Sessions should have given the information even if it duplication other forms.
............Sessions initially listed a year's worth of meetings with foreign officials on the security clearance form, according to Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores. But she says he and his staff were then told by an FBI employee who assisted in filling out the form, known as the SF-86, that he didn't need to list dozens of meetings with foreign ambassadors that happened in his capacity as a senator.
The FBI declined to comment for this story.
A legal expert who regularly assists officials in filling out the form disagrees with the Justice Department's explanation, suggesting that Sessions should have disclosed the meetings.
"My interpretation is that a member of Congress would still have to reveal the appropriate foreign government contacts notwithstanding it was on official business," said Mark Zaid, a Washington attorney who specializes in national security law.
Zaid added that in a similar circumstance he advised a member of Congress to list all foreign contacts -- including those made during official US government business.
To obtain a security clearance, a federal official is not required to list the meetings if they were part of a foreign conference he or she attended while conducting government business. Sessions' meetings, however, do not appear to be tied to foreign conferences..................
politicaljunkie41910
(3,335 posts)in filling out these forms are professionals. They know what is required and are not guessing. Sessions is talking pure bullshit.
orangecrush
(19,512 posts)What a patriot.
NOT.
turbinetree
(24,688 posts)iluvtennis
(19,844 posts)TheDebbieDee
(11,119 posts)the little elf about it during his confirmation hearing? It's the reason he recused himself from the Russian ties investigation...