--- title: Jeff Sessions Hearing: A History of the Mayflower Hotel description: Jeff Sessions denied meeting privately with Russian officials at the Mayflower Hotel. A brief history of the infamous D.C. landmark. canonical: https://time.com/4817107/mayflower-hotel-scandals/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-13T21:58:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:46:26.757Z article:section: History og:title: A History of the Mayflower Hotel in 5 Scandals og:description: From JFK's alleged mistress to Donald Trump's speech. og:url: https://time.com/4817107/mayflower-hotel-scandals/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A History of the Mayflower Hotel in 5 Scandals twitter:description: From JFK's alleged mistress to Donald Trump's speech. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # A History of the Mayflower Hotel in 5 Scandals by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) and [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/) Jun 13, 2017 9:58 PM CUT by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) and [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/) Jun 13, 2017 9:58 PM CUT Once again, the Mayflower Hotel is at the center of a political scandal. On Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions told the Senate intelligence committee that he [did not have any private meetings or recall any private conversations](http://time.com/4816993/jeff-sessions-testimony-russia-collusion/?xid=homepage "undefined") with Russian officials at an April 2016 event at the storied Washington hotel. “Let me state this clearly: I have never met with or had any conversations with any Russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election,” he said. A Getty photo of Sessions speaking with a guest at the event while Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak stood nearby [circulated on social media](https://twitter.com/kerryeleveld/status/870330087194861569 "undefined") after Sessions’ remarks and “Mayflower Hotel” began trending on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/kerryeleveld/status/870330087194861569) It wasn’t the first time that the hotel just north of the White House was the center of controversy. Here’s a quick look at other Mayflower-related scandals. ### The Reported Second Home of an Alleged JFK Mistress  Judith Campbell Exner, shown in an undated portrait, has been identified as a close friend of President John F. Kennedy and two underworld figures. She held a news conference Dec. 18, 1975 in San Diego to deny an assertion that she was the link with Mafia efforts to work with the Central Intelligence Agency on a Cuban assassination plot. AP Mafia liaison Judith Exner, who [claimed](http://people.com/archive/cover-story-the-dark-side-of-camelot-vol-29-no-8/ "undefined") in _People_ magazine in the 1980s that she had had an affair with President John F. Kennedy, is [believed](http://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-washington-post/20080311/282368330349469 "undefined") to have[ kept a room](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/fashion/20hotel.html "undefined") at the hotel. ### Marion S. Barry, Jr. Found Guilty of Possessing Crack  D.C. Council Member Marion Barry gives a news conference in Washington D.C. on Aug. 2, 2010. Andrew Harnikz—AP In 1990, a jury [found](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/dc/barry/sentence.htm "undefined") the former mayor of the District of Columbia guilty of possessing cocaine at the Mayflower in the fall of 1989, and Barry served six months in prison. A year later, a federal sting operation famously caught him smoking a crack pipe with a former model Rasheeda Moore at the Vista, a different hotel in the city (now known as the Westin City Center). ### Bill Clinton Hugs Monica Lewinsky  Bill Clinton hugs Monica Lewinsky at the Democratic Fundraiser in Washington on Oct. 23, 1996. Dirck Halstead—Getty Images More than a year before the news outlets started reporting on the affair between Monica Lewinsky and President Bill Clinton, the leader is seen embracing his former White House intern as he works a rope line at the hotel. She stayed at the hotel while the scandal unfolded, and stayed in the presidential suite while she filmed a [deposition](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/impeach020799.htm "undefined") there, according to Keith McClinsey’s biography [_Washington D.C.’s Mayflower Hotel_.](https://books.google.com/books?id=U4mvGPxBmogC&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=monica+lewinsky+deposition+mayflower+hotel&source=bl&ots=uKDFBDxA1i&sig=nHcmIee03NjD1QAd1dX1urfqSTI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjwjtrR4rvUAhUB3SYKHcgtA8AQ6AEIYzAP#v=onepage&q=monica%20lewinsky%20deposition%20mayflower%20hotel&f=false "undefined") ### Eliot Spitzer’s Meeting With a Prostitute  New York State Gov. Eliot Spitzer is joined by his wife Silda Wall Spitzer as he makes a statement to reporters during a news conference Monday, March 10, 2008 in New York. Spitzer announced Wednesday, March 12, 2008, that he would resign effective March 17, completing a stunning fall from power after he was nationally disgraced by links to a high-priced prostitution ring. Mary Altaffer—ASSOCIATED PRESS A March 10, 2008, [a New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/nyregion/10cnd-spitzer.html "undefined") investigation revealed that the New York Governor was the “Client 9” who met Ashley Dupre of a high-profile prostitution ring known as The Emperor’s Club in room 871 of the Mayflower. He [resigned ](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/nyregion/12cnd-resign.html "undefined")two days later, and [no federal criminal charges were filed](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/nyregion/07spitzer.html "undefined") against him. ### Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy Campaign Speech  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers a speech about his vision for foreign policy at the Mayflower Hotel April 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images The real estate mogul gave a major speech on his vision for U.S. foreign policy during the 2016 presidential campaign at the hotel on April 27, 2016, in which he declared that “the horrible cycle of hostility must end” between Russia and the U.S. Today, the event is remembered more as a possible site for another pro-Russia statement, where [Sessions and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/did-trump-kushner-sessions-have-undisclosed-meeting-russian-n767096 "undefined") allegedly met with Kislyak, according to a conversation intercepted by American intelligence officials in which Kislyak is said to be discussing this private meeting. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4817107/mayflower-hotel-scandals/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4817107/mayflower-hotel-scandals/"},"headline":"A History of the Mayflower Hotel in 5 Scandals","datePublished":"2017-06-13T21:58:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:26.757Z","description":"Once again, the Mayflower Hotel is at the center of a political scandal.","url":"https://time.com/4817107/mayflower-hotel-scandals/","keywords":["politics","Newsfeed","History","John F. 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