Ex-federal prosecutor: Funny how a federal investigation suddenly sharpened Jeff Sessions' memory

Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti told MSNBC on Thursday that he's not entirely surprised that Attorney Gen. Jeff Sessions suddenly was able to recall a forgotten meeting he took with President Donald Trump and arrested Trump 2016 adviser George Papadopoulos.

"It's interesting how federal criminal investigations tend to sharpen one's memory," Mariotti said.

Mariotti and MSNBC national security correspondent Ken Dilanian were speaking to anchor Katy Tur about Sessions suddenly being able to recall a meeting that was revealed this week in court documents unsealed by special counsel Bob Mueller as part of the ongoing Russia probe.

Dilanian said that "congressional investigators now want to call Sessions back" to clarify his previous statements.

"This would be the third time that he's had to amend his recollections about his contacts with Russians," said Dilanian.

Mariotti said that it's important to listen to how carefully Sessions parsed the language of his testimony.

"I've spent a lot of time listening to people testify and cross-examining them," he said, pointing out that when Sessions was questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee in June, "he really didn't answer the question."

"It is interesting how federal criminal investigations tend to sharpen one's memory," Mariotti said, then noted that Sessions or his legal team might say that Sessions didn't know when he testified that the meeting on March 31, 2016 was about Russian interference in the U.S. election.

Mariotti classified Sessions as "an evasive witness" and someone who was aware that "lying to Congress is a crime," and was therefore trying to be extravagantly careful with his wording.

Watch the video, embedded below: