Trump ally and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani swatted away rumors that he was being considered to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday, and contradicted the President by saying Sessions was right to recuse himself from matters related to the 2016 campaign and Russian meddling therein.
Sessions, Giuliani told CNN, “made the right decision under the rules of the Justice Department.”
Sessions recused himself in March after it was revealed he met multiple times with Russia’s ambassador to the United States during the 2016 campaign, despite denying meeting with any Russians during his confirmation hearing, in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Washington Post reported Friday, citing unnamed current and former U.S. officials, that Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak told his superiors that he and Sessions discussed matters related to the Trump campaign, despite Sessions’ past denials of doing so.
Trump expressed his frustration with Sessions in an interview with the New York Times last Wednesday, saying he would not have nominated Sessions to be attorney general if he had known beforehand that Sessions would recuse himself.
On Monday, Trump called Sessions “our beleaguered A.G.” and asked why the attorney general wasn’t “looking into Crooked Hillarys [sic] crimes & Russia relations.”
Axios reported Monday, citing unnamed “West Wing confidants,” that “President Trump is so unhappy with Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he has raised the possibility of bringing back Rudolph Giuliani to head the Justice Department.”
