WASHINGTON: An avalanche of new revelations about ties between Donald Trump´s aides and Russia forced the White House back on the offensive Friday, overshadowing a presidential weekend trip to Florida and his well-received major speech.
Before heading to his Mar-a-Lago resort for the fourth time in five weeks, Trump accused his political foes of conducting "a total witch hunt" into links with Moscow, which he denies.
The angry accusation came as Attorney General Jeff Sessions -- a close Trump confidant and the US government´s top law enforcement official -- was forced to recuse himself from any Russia-related inquiries.
After Sessions told senators under oath that "I didn´t have -- did not have communications with the Russians," journalists uncovered he had actually met the Russian ambassador twice in the months before taking office.
The meetings have raised red flags for Democrats, who have called for Sessions to resign and be investigated for perjury.
Trump said he had "total" confidence in Sessions, who "could have stated his response more accurately" but "did not say anything wrong."
Trump also lashed out at leading Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer.
Trump tweeted an old picture of the senator with Russian President Vladimir Putin along with the caption: "We should start an immediate investigation into SenSchumer and his ties to Russia and Putin. A total hypocrite!"
Since US intelligence took the unprecedented step of publicly accusing Russia of trying to swing the November election in Trump´s favor, questions have swirled about whether some in Trump´s campaign colluded with Moscow.
Trump has repeatedly denied any personal ties to the Kremlin, and his aides have variously denied or played down contacts with Russian officials.
But it has now emerged that a slew of associates aside from Sessions and already fired national security advisor Michael Flynn met Moscow´s envoy to Washington, Sergey Kislyak, before Trump took office.