Democrats demand Sessions explain his meeting with Russia probe cooperator Papadopoulos
George Papadopoulos
Sessions's participation in the gathering was detailed in court documents released Monday by special counsel Robert Mueller III. The adviser who offered to set up the meeting was  George Papadopoulos  who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI  according to the documents .
Sessions had not previously disclosed the meeting  despite being asked over multiple appearances on Capitol Hill whether  he  or anyone on the campaign ever discussed meeting with Russians.
Senate Republicans have not rushed to Sessions's defense but were less ruffled about his participation in the  Papadopoulos  meeting. "If anybody's got any concerns about his meeting  write him a letter and see what he says " said Sen. Lindsey Graham  R-S.C.
A Sessions spokeswoman declined to comment this week on the March 31 meeting with Trump and campaign advisers  including  Papadopoulos . But on Thursday  a person familiar with Sessions' recollections said that "people who remember the conversation" believed that  Papadopoulos  was proposing an idea of using  his  Russian contacts to try to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin  "which was immediately rejected by then-Senator Sessions."
" Papadopoulos  was some 29-year-old that nobody had ever heard of and who struck people in the room as someone who didn't have a lot of credibility " the person said. "As far as Sessions seemed to be concerned  when he shut down this idea of  Papadopoulos  engaging with Russia  that was the end of it and he moved the meeting along to other issues."
"The March 31 comments by this  Papadopoulos  person did not leave a lasting impression " the person said. "The attorney general immediately dismissed it and moved on."
J.D. Gordon  a former Pentagon spokesman and Trump adviser who attended the meeting  also recalled that Sessions "shut him down" when  Papadopoulos  announced that he could introduce Trump to Putin.
The Washington Post also reported earlier this week that  Papadopoulos  sat next to Sessions during a dinner at the Capitol Hill Club for campaign advisers weeks before the Republican National Convention  according to another person who attended.
Sessions's participation in the gathering was detailed in court documents released Monday by special counsel Robert Mueller III. The adviser who offered to set up the meeting was  George Papadopoulos  who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI  according to the documents .
Sessions had not previously disclosed the meeting  despite being asked over multiple appearances on Capitol Hill whether  he  or anyone on the campaign ever discussed meeting with Russians.
Senate Republicans have not rushed to Sessions's defense but were less ruffled about his participation in the  Papadopoulos  meeting. "If anybody's got any concerns about his meeting  write him a letter and see what he says " said Sen. Lindsey Graham  R-S.C.
A Sessions spokeswoman declined to comment this week on the March 31 meeting with Trump and campaign advisers  including  [TGT] . But on Thursday  a person familiar with Sessions' recollections said that "people who remember the conversation" believed that  Papadopoulos  was proposing an idea of using  his  Russian contacts to try to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin  "which was immediately rejected by then-Senator Sessions."
" Papadopoulos  was some 29-year-old that nobody had ever heard of and who struck people in the room as someone who didn't have a lot of credibility " the person said. "As far as Sessions seemed to be concerned  when he shut down this idea of  [TGT]  engaging with Russia  that was the end of it and he moved the meeting along to other issues."
"The March 31 comments by this  [TGT]  person did not leave a lasting impression " the person said. "The attorney general immediately dismissed it and moved on."
J.D. Gordon  a former Pentagon spokesman and Trump adviser who attended the meeting  also recalled that Sessions "shut him down" when  Papadopoulos  announced that he could introduce Trump to Putin.
The Washington Post also reported earlier this week that  [TGT]  sat next to Sessions during a dinner at the Capitol Hill Club for campaign advisers weeks before the Republican National Convention  according to another person who attended.