US President defends Attorney General after he ‘recuses’ self from Russia probe saying the snowballing controversy is a ‘witch hunt’ by Democrats
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions departs following a press conference. Pic/afp
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Washington: Beleaguered Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from any probe into Donald Trump’s election campaign amid the snowballing controversy over his alleged contacts with Russia, which the US President described as a “witch hunt”.
“I have decided to recuse myself from any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaigns for President of the US,” Sessions said in a statement amid calls for his resignation from top Democrats after it emerged that he had met Russia’s ambassador here during the presidential polls campaign.
His remarks came after President Trump said that he had “total” confidence in Sessions and he should not recuse himself from the Russia probe. However, Sessions went ahead with his decision. “This announcement should not be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of any investigation or suggestive of the scope of any such investigation,” Sessions said.
Sessions said that during the course of the confirmation proceedings of his nomination to be the US AG, he advised the Senate Judiciary Committee that “if a specific matter arose where I believed my impartiality might reasonably be questioned, I would consult with Department Ethics officials regarding the most appropriate way to proceed.”
'Jeff did nothing wrong with intent'
Trump, in a series of tweets, lashed out at the Democrats and defended Sessions, “Jeff Sessions is an honest man. He did not say anything wrong. He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not intentional.“Democrats are overplaying their hand…The real story is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total ‘witch hunt!’”
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