Attorney General Jeff Sessions will recuse himself from campaign investigations

(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

published 2 March 2017

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Thursday that he will recuse himself from "any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaigns for president of the United States" following reports that he had twice spoken with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 election.

Sessions, when asked during his Senate confirmation hearing about contact between President Trump's campaign and Russia, said under oath he "did not have communications with the Russians." Sessions sometimes served as a campaign surrogate for Trump. He has defended his response in light of recent reports, noting he met with Kislyak in his capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and not on Trump's behalf.

On Thursday, Sessions said his answer was "honest and correct as I understood it at the time." President Trump said he had "total confidence" in Sessions and that he should not have to recuse himself from investigations of the Trump administration's ties to Russia.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.