Jeff Sessions: 'I will recuse myself' if necessary

Attorney General Jeff Sessions denied meeting with Russian officials during the course of the presidential election to discuss the Trump campaign, he told NBC News in exclusive remarks early Thursday.

"I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign," he said, "and those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false. And I don't have anything else to say about that."

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Sessions was also asked whether he would step aside from investigating alleged ties between Trump's surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government, which Democrats and some Republicans have demanded.

"I have said whenever it's appropriate, I will recuse myself," he said. "There's no doubt about that."

Related: Sessions Met With Russian Ambassador but Didn't Mislead Senate: Spokeswoman

Sessions' spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday night that he had met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. before the presidential election last year in his capacity as a then-senator, raising questions about whether he misled fellow senators during his attorney general confirmation hearing in January.

Spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores told NBC News that Sessions, who was a prominent Trump surrogate, did have a conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak last year. The meeting was first reported by The Washington Post.

But she said "there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer" because Sessions was asked during the hearing about "communications between Russia and the Trump campaign" and not about meetings he took as a member of the Armed Services Committee.

Sessions had one private meeting with the Russian ambassador last September as part of his capacity as a senator, the Justice Department told NBC News.

The other encounter came after he gave a speech at the Republican National Convention in July and a group of ambassadors approached him. He did not have a one-on-one meeting with the Russians at the time.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, also a member of the Armed Services Committee, was among the Democrats questioning why Sessions would meet with a Russian ambassador.

"I've been on the Armed Services Com for 10 years. No call or meeting w/Russian ambassador. Ever," she tweeted Thursday.

Democrats have called for a select committee or special prosecutor to delve further into claims of Russian interference in November's election and whether the Russians yielded influence on the campaign.

Questions have been mounting over Russia, from initial allegations that Moscow meddled in the November election to reports that Trump's presidential campaign staffers had contact with the Russians to former national security adviser Mike Flynn resigning over his contact with a Russian ambassador.

If Sessions is a potential witness in any investigation, he must decide whether to recuse himself, appoint a special prosecutor or do nothing.

House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Thursday that he also thought Sessions should recuse himself from Russian-linked investigations.

"I just think for any investigation going forward, it would be easier," McCarthy said.

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