'Stop misleading the public': Sen. Al Franken blisters Sessions for blaming 'rambling' question for lies

After Attorney General Jeff Sessions blamed Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) for his failure to disclose his meetings with Russian operatives, the Minnesota senator accused the attorney general of misleading the Senate Judiciary Committee and the American public in a statement.

Along with asserting that Sessions and President Donald Trump's administration "have collective amnesia about meeting with Russian officials during and after the campaign" that they "only remember when they have been caught," Franken also said he believes the attorney general intentionally obfuscated when claiming the senator's "rambling questions" questions confused him.

"Despite what he attempted to assert in his testimony," Franken continued, "Attorney General Sessions wasn't actually confused by my question during his January confirmation hearing."

"Rather, I believe he's trying to downplay the gravity of and whitewash the fact that he misled the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath and failed to correct the record until he was forced to do so seven weeks later after reporting by the Washington Post," he said, citing the Post's report that revealed Sessions met twice with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak without disclosing the meetings on his security clearance forms when he became AG.

"Here's my message to Jeff Sessions: stop misleading the American public, stop making excuses, and start being more forthcoming. Come before the Senate Judiciary Committee to speak honestly and openly with those who you first misled," Franken concluded.

Read the entire statement below via Bloomberg's Sahil Kupar on Twitter.