Democrats tell US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from any Russia probe
US Senate Democrats on Wednesday called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from any executive branch investigation into possible ties between the Trump administration and Russia.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sessions should not be involved because of potential conflicts of interest and because of Justice Department regulations that prohibit individuals with political ties to the subjects of an investigation from leading it. US President Donald Trump nominated Sessions for the attorney general’s post and the senator was one of his earliest and staunchest backers in Congress.
“When the FBI looks into a matter, they do so alongside prosecutors from the Justice Department,” Schumer said. “Those prosecutors should not be reporting to the first senator who endorsed Donald Trump’s campaign.”
Schumer and other Democrats spoke to reporters as Trump criticised the intelligence agencies that he oversees and the media for what he described as unfair treatment of his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and for “illegally leaked” information about reported contacts between his campaign aides and Russian officials.
Flynn was forced to resign Monday following reports he misled Vice-President Mike Pence about contacts with a Russian diplomat. Late Tuesday, The New York Times reported that US agencies had intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Trump’s 2016 campaign team.
In a barrage of early morning tweets, Trump accused the US intelligence community of being behind the leaks, directly pointing the finger at the National Security Agency and the FBI.