Nation & World Glance
WASHINGTON — Under intensifying pressure, Attorney General Jeff Sessions abruptly agreed Thursday to recuse himself from any investigation into Russian meddling in America’s 2016 presidential election. He acted after revelations he twice spoke with the Russian ambassador during the campaign and failed to say so when pressed by Congress.
Sessions rejected any suggestion that he had tried to mislead anyone about his contacts with the Russian, saying, “That is not my intent. That is not correct.”
But he did allow that he should have been more careful in his testimony during his confirmation hearing, saying, “I should have slowed down and said, ‘But I did meet one Russian official a couple of times.’”
The White House has stood by Sessions in the latest controversy to dog President Donald Trump’s young administration, though officials say they first learned about his contacts with the ambassador from a reporter Wednesday night. Trump himself said Thursday he had “total” confidence in Sessions. Trump laid the controversy at the feet of Democrats, saying they are trying to save face. “The Democrats are overplaying their hand,” he said. “They lost the election and now, they have lost their grip on reality. The real story is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total witch hunt!”
Pence used a private email account to conduct state business
WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence used a private email account to conduct public business as Indiana’s governor, according to public records obtained by the Indianapolis Star.
The newspaper reported Thursday that emails provided through a public records request show that Pence communicated with advisers through his personal AOL account on homeland security matters and security at the governor’s residence during his four years as governor.
The vice president’s spokesman, Marc Lotter, said Pence “maintained a state email account and a personal email account” like previous governors in the state. Lotter said at the end of his term Pence directed outside counsel to review all of his communications to ensure that state-related emails were transferred and properly archived by the state.