Report: Trump told counsel to stop Jeff Sessions from recusing himself in Russia probe

Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions.
(Image credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

In March, President Trump told White House Counsel Don McGahn to stop Attorney General Jeff Sessions from recusing himself from the Justice Department's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, The New York Times reports.

Two people with knowledge of the meeting told the Times that when McGahn spoke with Sessions, the attorney general told him he had made up his mind in February to recuse himself, after conferring with others in the Justice Department. When McGahn told Trump he had been unsuccessful in trying to sway Sessions, Trump was furious and said he needed an attorney general who would protect him, the Times reports. Sessions recused himself that month and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller in May.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.