Jeff Sessions Recuses Himself From Campaign Probes Amid Pressure To Resign

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Department of Justice probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election in a press conference Thursday afternoon.

Democratic lawmakers have called for criminal investigations and Sessions' resignation Thursday after it was reported that, contrary to his Senate testimony, the former senator had contact with Russia during the presidential campaign. Some Republicans have said Sessions should recuse himself from any further Justice Department investigations into Russian activities.

Sessions maintained that his testimony to the Senate was "honest and correct as I understood it at the time." Nevertheless, after conferring with his staff, he decided to recuse himself from any further investigations into the Trump campaign and its possible ties to Russia. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

At the same time, the White House confirmed to NBC News and the New York Times Thursday that then-incoming National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner had a previously undisclosed meeting in December with a Russian Ambassador Kislyak. USA Today also reported that two Trump campaign officials, J.D. Gordon and Cart Page, met with Kislyak at a conference related to the Republican National Convention.

For more details about exactly what happened with Sessions, the Russians and the Senate, read Patch's rundown of the facts.

The deputy attorney general will take the lead on any investigation Sessions is recused from. Sessions will not be consulted, involved, or briefed on these investigations.

The attorney general, however, only recused himself from investigations related to the Trump campaign before the election, and not from probes of incidents that might have occurred since the start of the Trump administration.

Sessions insisted that his testimony to the Senate, in which he denied meeting with Russians, was a reference to reports of extensive meetings between Trump campaign staff and Moscow officials. He acknowledged that he did, in fact, meet with Ambassador Kislyak, twice during the campaign.

Despite the fact that Russia was suspected of interfering in the election at the time of Sessions' second meeting with Kislyak in September, the attorney general said he was not then aware of any such accusations.

"Attorney General Sessions has to come back and be brought back before the Judiciary Committee to answer the questions that he cut off by denying these meetings," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, on MSNBC. "We had no chance to ask him all the details about those contacts and conversations which are highly relevant to the investigation and to any sort of pursuit of the truth here."

Sessions said he will write a letter to the Judiciary Committee, but Blumenthal said this was not good enough.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee requested a criminal investigation Thursday into Sessions' potential perjury earlier in the day. In a letter to FBI Director James Comey and U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips, they also asked for the investigation to look into whether the Trump administration or campaign knew about Sessions' Russian connections.

Trump told pool reporters Thursday afternoon that he didn't think the attorney general should recuse himself and that he had "total" confidence in Sessions. When asked whether Sessions testified truthfully before the Senate, Trump responded, "I think he probably did."

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told Fox News in an interview Thursday, "There's nothing to recuse himself. He was 100 percent straight with the committee and I think the people [who] are choosing to play partisan politics with this should be ashamed of themselves."

Democratic leaders been called for Sessions' resignation.

"The information reported last night makes it clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that Attorney General Sessions cannot possibly lead an investigation into Russian interference in our elections, or come anywhere near it," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a press conference Thursday. "With these revelations, he may very well become the subject of it."

He continued: "Because the department of Justice should be beyond reproach, for the good of the country, Attorney General Sessions should resign."

Schumer also said that whether or not one agreed with him on the question of resignation, the integrity of the investigations must be maintained.

Late Wednesday night, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a similar statement, saying, "After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the Attorney General must resign."

Republican Sen. Rob Portman from Ohio did not call for Sessions' resignation but concurred with his colleagues' suggestion that he recuse himself.

"Jeff Sessions is a former colleague and a friend, but I think it would be best for him and for the country to recuse himself from the DOJ Russia probe," Portman said in a statement.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, tweeted out a call for Sessions' recusal: "AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself."

Not everyone agreed that the revelations about Sessions warranted even recusal.

Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, said in a statement earlier in the day, "There is zero evidence to suggest Attorney General Sessions acted inappropriately for doing his job as a Senior member of the Armed Services Committee. To interpret his answers during his confirmation hearing as 'lying to Congress' requires a stunning level of ignorance and deceit."

He continued: "I'm proud to stand by the Attorney General and I call on all members of Congress to stop wasting time on sideshow distractions and personal attacks and focus instead on border security, tax reform, and restoring free markets — the very issues Americas support and deserve."

Watch video of Sessions' press conference below:

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Photo credit: Gage Skidmore