Trump rages at Sessions in N.Y. Times interview

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump told The New York Times in an interview Wednesday that he never would have appointed Jeff Sessions as attorney general had he known Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation.

In an extraordinary denouncement of one of his earliest backers in Washington, Trump said Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from all matters related to Russia was “very unfair to the president.”

“Sessions should have never recused himself,” Trump told the paper, “and if he was going to recuse himself he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else.”

Sessions’ recusal, announced following revelations that he had failed to disclose meetings with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., effectively paved the way for the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel. Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential ties between the Russian government and Trump campaign aides has cast a growing cloud on Trump’s administration.

A Trump adviser said the president’s comments about Sessions reflected his longrunning frustration with the attorney general’s decision to recuse himself and echoed statements he has made privately.

The adviser said the remarks were not intended to signal that Trump plans to fire Sessions. However, the adviser said the unknown factor was whether the public airing of grievances would prompt Sessions to resign, particularly given that the attorney general has previously offered to step down.

The adviser insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the president’s thinking.

In the interview, Trump also appeared to threaten Mueller, suggesting he had damaging information on the former FBI director.

Trump said Mueller’s selection for the job was a conflict of interest because Trump had interviewed him to serve as the replacement FBI director.