SESSIONS PULLS OUT OF RUSSIA INQUIRY

He says he didn’t mislead senators

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, facing criticism for failing during his confirmation hearing to disclose meetings with Russia’s envoy to the United States, recused himself Thursday from overseeing the FBI investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election.

“I have decided to recuse myself from any existing or future investigation of matters related on any way to the campaigns for president of the United States,” Sessions said.

His role in the investigation will be handled by Dana Boente, the acting deputy attorney general.

The former Alabama senator disputed any suggestion that he had misled senators in his confirmation hearing as

“absolutely false.”

At the time he was questioned about contacts with Russian officials, Sessions said, he had not thought of himself during those meetings as acting as a Trump surrogate.

“My answer was honest and correct as I understood it at the time,” Sessions said at a hastily called news conference.

His recusal, Sessions said, should not be seen as an admission that an investigation is taking place.

Sessions’ decision came after growing numbers of Republican lawmakers joined Democratic members of Congress in calling for the new attorney general to either step aside from the inquiry or resign.

The attorney general, who took office less than a month ago, has denied discussing campaign- related matters when he encountered Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July during an event at the Republican National Convention and later during a meet- ing in September in his Senate office in Washington, Justice officials confirmed.

At the time of those meetings, the FBI was deeply engaged in an investigation into Russia’s intervention in the election and Sessions was chairman of the National Security Advisory Committee.

Sessions did not disclose those encounters with the Russian envoy during his confirmation hearing in January.

Sen. Al Franken, D- Minn., asked Sessions whether he was aware if campaign officials had any contact with Russian government officials.

Sessions provided a similar re- sponse to a written question submitted by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D- Vt.

Sessions spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores has said there was “absolutely nothing misleading about his answer because the then- senator took those meetings in his capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.”

The storm that has engulfed the attorney general comes less than a month after national security adviser Michael Flynn was dismissed after it was determined that he had misled Vice President Pence and other top Trump administration officials about his pre- inauguration contacts with the same Russian envoy.