Here comes the Sessions press conference...

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is holding a press conference Thursday at 4 p.m. amid a firestorm over his contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 election.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the FBI opened an inquiry into contacts Sessions may have had with Russian officials in the spring and summer of last year.

It was part of a wide-ranging investigation into possible contacts between President Donald Trump's associates and Russian operatives. It is unclear whether Sessions' contact is still being examined.

Sessions denied during his confirmation hearing that he had ever communicated with any Russian officials while he was a top Trump campaign surrogate.

But the Wednesday reports indicated that he met with Russia's ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, at least twice last year - once at an event timed to the Republican National Convention and again in September. There are conflicting reports about whether the September conversation happened in Sessions' office or by phone.

A number of Democratic politicians called for Sessions while others, including prominent Republicans, have called for him to recuse himself from any investigation involving Trump's ties to Russia or the country's influence in the 2016 presidential election.

You can watch the press conference at the Justice Department's website.

Natasha Bertrand and Allan Smith contributed to this report.