U.S. Attorney General Sessions gave a press conference where he tried to defend lying to the Senate about his undisclosed meetings with Russians.
Jeff Sessions Press Conference
During the press conference, Jeff Sessions claimed ignorance but said he decided to recuse himself from the investigation after consultation with his staff.
According to Reuters,
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Thursday he would recuse himself from any investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election because he was involved with President Donald Trump’s campaign.
But Sessions, who was a long-time U.S. senator before becoming the country’s top law enforcement official, said he did nothing wrong when he did not disclose during Senate testimony that he had met last year with Russia’s ambassador. He said the meetings were in his capacity as senator, not as a campaign aide.
“I have recused myself in the matters that deal with the Trump campaign,” Sessions told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference after several of his fellow Republicans in Congress called for him to recuse himself and Democrats urged him to resign.
Sessions said he had been weighing recusal – ruling himself out from any role in the investigations – even before the latest twist of the controversy over ties between Trump associates and Russia that has dogged the early days of his presidency.