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McCaskill Tweets She Has Never Met, Called Russian Ambassador–But Past Tweets State Otherwise

March 2, 2017

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) tweeted on Thursday that she has never met or called the Russian ambassador to the United States, but her past tweets refute that claim.

McCaskill's assertion came after reports surfaced that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had spoken with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak twice last year.

"I've been on the Armed Services Com for 10 years," McCaskill wrote early Thursday morning. "No call or meeting w/Russian ambassador. Ever. Ambassadors call members of Foreign Rel Com."

However, a tweet from McCaskill's same account almost four years earlier, on Jan. 30, 2013, said she was "off to" a "meeting W/Russian Ambassador."

Another tweet two years later, on Aug. 6, 2015, said that McCaskill had a call with the Russian ambassador because she was "#doing[her]homework" on the Iran nuclear deal.

The Washington Post on Monday asked all 26 members of the Senate Armed Services Committee if they had ever met with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. All 20 lawmakers who responded said they had not met with him.

It is unclear whether McCaskill was one of the senators who responded.

A senior staffer for the committee gave a statement saying that most of its members "have not been beating a path to Kislyak's door."

"There haven't been a ton of members who are looking to meet with Kislyak for their committee duties," the staffer added.

Published under: Claire McCaskill , Russia