After news broke last evening that Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearing in saying that he’d had no contact with Russian officials during last year’s presidential campaign, forty-seven Democrats and counting—most recently including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer—have called for Sessions’s resignation. Just now, in a press release, Democratic U.S. Representative G.K. Butterfield didn’t quite go that far, though he does call for Sessions to recuse himself from any investigation into the Trump campaign’s communications with Russia and an independent commission to oversee the inquiry.

His statement is below.

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) today issued the following statement after it was reported that then-Senator Jeff Sessions, a long-serving Donald Trump campaign advisor, spoke with Russia’s ambassador to the United States last year, contrary to testimony he provided under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearings about meetings with Russian officials:

“Jeff Sessions has once again shown he is not fit to serve as our nation’s top law enforcement officer. It is essential that there be trust between the U.S. Attorney General and the American people. By testifying under oath that he did not have communications with the Russians during his Senate confirmation hearing, Jeff Sessions has breached this trust and raises questions of apparent perjury that must be investigated.

“In light of this report and last month’s call for Michael Flynn’s resignation after he concealed conversations with the Russians, there is no question that we need an independent, bipartisan, transparent commission to investigate this Administration’s connections and communications with Russia.

“At minimum, the Attorney General must recuse himself from any oversight of an investigation of senior Trump officials’ ties to the Russian government.”

The INDY will have more on this story as it develops throughout the day.

Unlike Richard Burr, G.K. Butterfield Has Plenty of Time to Take Questions from His Constituents