Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he recused himself from the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election because he had been associated with the Trump campaign — rather because of the Washington Post’s reporting that he had undisclosed meetings with the Russian ambassador to the United States.
Sessions said he “in effect” recused himself the day after his swearing in as attorney general, even though he did not announce it publicly at the time.
“‘Unless authorized, no employee shall participate in a criminal investigation or prosecution if he has a personal or political relationship with any person involved in the conduct of an investigation,‘” Sessions said, reading from 28 cfr 45.2.
“It goes on to say in a political campaign, and it says ‘if you have a close identification with an elected official or a candidate arising from service as a principal adviser, you should not participate in an investigation of that campaign.’ So many have suggested that my recusal is because I felt I was a subject of the investigation myself; that I may have done something wrong. But this is the reason I recused myself: I felt I was required to under the rules of the Department of Justice. And as a leader of the Department of Justice, I should comply with the rules, obviously.”
“In effect, as a matter of fact, I recused myself that day,” he said later, referring to Feb. 10.
