Blacked-out page of Sessions security clearance form is out

Published 1:30 am Thursday, July 13, 2017

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has released a heavily blacked out page from Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ security clearance application.

The document has become public in response to a government watchdog group’s lawsuit.

The application page asks whether Sessions — a senator before joining the Trump administration — or anyone in his immediate family had contact within the past seven years with a foreign government or its representatives.

There’s a “no” listed, but the rest of the answer is blacked out.

The department has acknowledged that Sessions — on his form — omitted meetings he had with foreign dignitaries, including the Russian ambassador.

A department spokesman says the FBI agent who helped with the form said those encounters didn’t have to be included as routine contacts as part of Sessions’ Senate duties.