Sessions interviewed in Russia investigation

WASHINGTON— Attorney General Jeff Sessions was interviewed for hours last week in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, the Justice Department confirmed Tuesday.

The interview comes as Mueller is investigating whether President Donald Trump’s actions in office, including the firing of FBI Director James Comey, constitute efforts to obstruct an FBI probe into contacts between his 2016 campaign and Russia.

Sessions is thought to be the highestranking Trump administration official, and first Cabinet member, to be interviewed by Mueller’s team.

He is seen as a potentially important witness given his direct involvement in the May 9 firing of Comey.

The White House initially said that the termination was done on the recommendation of the Justice Department and cited a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The memo faulted Comey for his handling of the Hillary Clinton email server investigation, as justification for the dismissal.

But Trump has since said he was thinking of “this Russia thing” when he fired Comey.

Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation in early March after acknowledging that he had had two previously undisclosed encounters with the Russian ambassador during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

He said at the time that it would be improper for him to oversee a probe into a campaign for which he was a vocal and prominent supporter.