Whitaker asked to recuse himself by AGs

Connecticut’s George Jepsen was among several state attorneys general to ask acting U. S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to recuse himself from any role in overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Whitaker took over as the Department of Justice’s acting attorney general on Wednesday after Jeff Sessions submitted his letter of resignation at President Donald Trump’s request.

Whitaker’s appointment to acting attorney general by Trump raised concerns among critics that Whitaker would attempt to curtail Mueller’s investigation.

Aletter addressed to Whitaker was initiated by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

Other than Healey and Jepsen, signatures on the letter included attorney generals from New York, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, California, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Rhode Island and Washington, D. C.

“Your recusal is necessary to maintain public trust in the integrity of the investigation and to protect the essential and longstanding independence of the department you have been chose to lead, on an acting basis,” the letter said.

In the letter, the attorney generals said Whitaker’s public comments criticizing Muller’s investigation have been widely circulated, including his suggestion to cut the special counsel’s budget or limit Muller’s authority to follow lines of inquiry.

“We believe that the independent special counsel must have the full authority to investigate and, if warranted, prosecute any violations of federal law,” the letter goes on to say.

Healey shared the letter on Twitter, though it was unclear if Whitaker issued any kind of response to it on the platform because he set his account to private earlier this week.

AWashington Post report from Thursday said Whitaker has no intention of recusing himself from overseeing the special counsel probe. The information was attributed to people close to Whitaker.