The Latest: Kislyak says he and Sessions discussed campaign


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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the ongoing investigations into Russia meddling in the 2016 election (all times EDT):

7:35 p.m.

The Washington Post reports that the Russian ambassador to the U.S. has said he discussed election-related issues with Sen. Jeff Sessions when the two men met during the 2016 presidential race.

The Post is citing anonymous U.S. officials who described U.S. intelligence intercepts of Ambassador Sergey Kislyak's descriptions of his meetings with Sessions.

Sessions was then a foreign policy adviser to Republican candidate Donald Trump. The former Alabama senator now serves as the Trump administration's attorney general.

Sessions failed to disclose the meetings with Kislyak during his confirmation hearing. He later said he did not recall discussing the Trump campaign with Kislyak.

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores says Sessions stands by his previous assertion that he never had conversations with Russian officials about any type of interference with the election.

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7:30 p.m.

The House intelligence committee says it will interview the son-in-law of President Donald Trump as part of its ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The committee says the meeting with Jared Kushner will take place Tuesday. Kushner is also scheduled to meet privately one day earlier with the Senate intelligence committee.

Kushner was among the participants at a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian-American lawyer. Emails released last week show that Donald Trump Jr. took the meeting with the expectation of receiving damaging information about his father's opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Separately Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee says it is in talks with Trump Jr. and Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort about private interviews ahead of a committee hearing.

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6:55 p.m.

President Donald Trump's eldest son and his former campaign chairman are agreeing to discuss being privately interviewed by a Senate committee investigating Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.

Senate Judiciary committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, says Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort are in talks about the interviews as well as the possibility of turning over documents. Grassley says he will not force the men to testify publicly next week.

Both men face questions about attending a Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer in June 2016. Trump Jr. was told the lawyer had damaging information that could be used against Democrat Hillary Clinton. The meeting was also described to Trump Jr. as part of a Russian government effort to help Trump's campaign.

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3:55 p.m.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is in talks with representatives of Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort about testifying at a hearing next week.

That's according to committee chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican.

The committee has invited Trump Jr. and Manafort, the one-time chairman of the Trump campaign, to a Wednesday hearing on a law governing the registration of foreign lobbyists.

Grassley's office says he and the committee's top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, want "voluntary cooperation" but have not ruled out subpoenas to force participation in the hearing.

Both Trump Jr. and Manafort attended a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian-American lawyer. In agreeing to the meeting, Trump's oldest son was told he'd be presented with damaging information on his father's opponent, Hillary Clinton.

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2:50 p.m.

Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice has met with staff on the Senate Intelligence Committee as the panel probes Russian interference in the U.S. election.

A spokeswoman for Rice confirmed that the closed-door meeting happened Friday. Erin Pelton says Rice was pleased to cooperate with the investigation "given its extraordinary national significance."

In addition to Rice, the panel is interviewing several members of former President Barack Obama's administration this week. Panel staff met with former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on Monday and former Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump has said Rice may have committed a crime when she asked intelligence analysts to disclose the name of a Trump associate mentioned in an intelligence report. Rice has said she did nothing improper.

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8:30 a.m.

White House aide Kellyanne Conway says it's only fair to expose any potential conflicts of interest of investigators helping Robert Mueller examine Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible ties to the Trump campaign.

Conway tells Fox News' "Fox & Friends" that members of Mueller's team have contributed to Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the past. She says: "It's relevant that people know what the motivations are. That is not an attack on the team. That is what's fair is fair."

This comes as Mueller's probe into Russia's election meddling appears likely to include some of the Trump family's business ties.

On Friday, Conway said Americans are interested in the financial details of Mueller's staff: "Let's at least have the transparency and accountability speak for itself."

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3:15 a.m.

President Donald Trump's legal team is evaluating potential conflicts of interest among members of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigative team.

That's according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

The revelation comes as Mueller's probe into Russia's election meddling appears likely to include some of the Trump family's business ties. Trump attorney Jay Sekulow tells The Associated Press Thursday that the lawyers "will consistently evaluate the issue of conflicts and raise them in the appropriate venue."

The people with knowledge of the matter insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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