Trump reportedly asked Sessions to reverse his recusal
President Donald Trump asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reverse his recusal from the Russia probe last spring in a conversation that is reportedly under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.
The incident reportedly occurred in March 2017 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, shortly after Sessions stepped aside amid reports that he had twice met with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. during the campaign — a revelation that went against statements he made during his Senate hearing, according to The New York Times.
The Times reports that Trump “berated” the attorney general and urged him to remain in control of the investigation.
Mueller is reportedly looking into the conversation — as well as Trump’s repeated attacks, both public and private, on Sessions — as part of his probe into whether the president obstructed justice by colluding with Russia during his campaign.
Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, told the Times that Trump was not acting out of turn in his request, and that should he agree to an interview with the special counsel — a deal that’s reportedly in negotiations — he should not be obligated to divulge private conversations, such as the one he had with Sessions.
“‘Unrecuse’ doesn’t say, ‘Bury the investigation.’ It says on the face of it: Take responsibility for it and handle it correctly,” Giuliani said.
The paper also reports that Trump dragged his predecessor Barack Obama into his arguments, telling advisers that the former president’s first attorney general, Eric Holder, would never have acted in such a way, and he craved the same loyalty from Sessions.
Trump has been vocal about his disdain for Sessions’ decision to step aside, and said in July he never would have nominated Sessions had he known that ultimately, he would not be the one overseeing the investigation.
Reports that surfaced at the time Sessions recused himself painted a similar picture, with Trump reportedly “erupting with anger” and going “ballistic” over the news, according to ABC News.