Jeff Sessions in The Mueller Report

On Principles & Values: Recusal from Mueller investigation for conflict of interest

[By Dec. 2016, the Obama US intelligence community concluded that Russia influenced the election to benefit Trump]. Shortly after, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he would rescue himself from any investigation of the 2016 campaign.

The recusal came after The Washington Post reported that during the presidential campaign, Sessions had twice met with Russia's ambassador to the US. Sessions had not disclosed the meetings when he was asked at his confirmation hearing about contacts between Russians and the Trump campaign. "I did not have communications with the Russians," Sessions had said.

At a news conference, Sessions insisted that his recusal was not a reaction to the Post's reporting. Sessions told advisers in the months that followed that he had no choice in the matter. The investigation was of Trump's campaign and its relationship with a foreign power. How could Sessions oversee that without raising questions about whether he had a conflict of interest?

Source: Mueller Report: Wash. Post Related Materials, p. 16-7 Apr 23, 2019

On Principles & Values: Tendered resignation after Special Counsel Mueller appointed

On May 17, 2017, Acting Attorney General Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to conduct the Russia investigation and matters that arose from the investigation. The President stated that the Special Counsel's appointment was the end of his presidency and that Attorney General Sessions had failed to protect him and should resign. Sessions submitted his resignation, which the President ultimately did not accept. The President told senior advisors that the Special Counsel had conflicts of interest, but they responded that those claims were "ridiculous" and posed no obstacle

That weekend, the President called McGahn and directed him to have the Special Counsel removed because of asserted conflicts of interest. McGahn did not carry out the instruction for fear of being seen as triggering another Saturday Night Massacre and instead prepared to resign. McGahn ultimately did not quit and the President did not follow up with McGahn on his request to remove the Special Counsel.

Source: The Mueller Report, Vol. ii, pp. 77-8 Apr 23, 2019

The above quotations are from The Mueller Report Presented with Related Materials by the Washington Post. Click here for other excerpts from The Mueller Report Presented with Related Materials by the Washington Post. Click here for other excerpts by Jeff Sessions. Click here for a profile of Jeff Sessions.
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Page last updated: Mar 16, 2021