DOJ Says Acting AG Matthew Whitaker Is Now Overseeing Robert Mueller’s Probe

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 29:  (L-R) Department of Justice Chief of Staff Matt Whitaker, the FBI's Kristi Johnson and  U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions participate in a round table event with the Joint Interagency Task Force - South (JIATF-S) foreign liaison officers and  at the Department of Justice Kennedy building August 29, 2018 in Washington, DC. Based in Key West, Florida, the JIATF-S  is tasked with stopping the flow of illicit drugs with the cooperation of other agencies and international partners, including Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Honduras, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and the United Kingdom.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 29: (L-R) Department of Justice Chief of Staff Matt Whitaker, the FBI's Kristi Johnson and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions participate in a round table event with the Joint Interagency T... WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 29: (L-R) Department of Justice Chief of Staff Matt Whitaker, the FBI's Kristi Johnson and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions participate in a round table event with the Joint Interagency Task Force - South (JIATF-S) foreign liaison officers and at the Department of Justice Kennedy building August 29, 2018 in Washington, DC. Based in Key West, Florida, the JIATF-S is tasked with stopping the flow of illicit drugs with the cooperation of other agencies and international partners, including Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Honduras, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and the United Kingdom. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Now that Jeff Sessions is gone, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, the Justice Department says.

When a TPM reporter asked if he was taking charge of overseeing the Mueller probe from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a DOJ spokeswoman said, “The Acting Attorney General is in charge of all matters under the purview of the Department of Justice.”

Sessions had recused himself from overseeing the probe.

Additional reporting by Tierney Sneed

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