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.
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