Trump: It's 'very unfair to the president' that Sessions recused himself from Russia probe
In an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, President Trump didn't hold back while talking about Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying that if Sessions had told him he would recuse himself from leading the investigation into Russian election meddling, he never would have appointed him to the position.
"Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president," he said. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair — and that's a mild word — to the president." He also accused Sessions of giving "some bad answers" during his Senate confirmation hearings, primarily his denial of ever meeting Russians during the campaign, despite two meetings with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Sessions was one of Trump's earliest supporters during the campaign. His spokesperson declined to comment on the interview to the Times.
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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