President Donald Trump has defended Attorney General Jeff Sessions as “an honest man” amid calls for him to quit.
The Democrats say Mr Sessions “lied on oath” at his confirmation hearing about contacts with the Russian ambassador.
Mr Trump said Mr Sessions “could have stated his response more accurately but it was clearly not intentional” and accused Democrats of a “witch hunt”.
However, Mr Sessions has removed himself from an FBI probe into alleged Russian meddling in the US election.
The Democrats have maintained their attacks on Mr Sessions, saying his explanation regarding his contacts with the Russian ambassador in 2016 were “simply not credible”.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Mr Sessions should step down.
Mr Trump said the Democrats had “lost the election and now they have lost their grip on reality”.
His campaign was dogged by allegations that some of his team had met with Russian officials and that Moscow had interfered in the election on his behalf. The president has branded the allegations “fake news”.
