Attorney General Jeff Sessions has decided against recusing himself from the investigation into President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, but will consider stepping back from specific questions tied to the probe, according to a person familiar with the matter.
By contrast, Sessions recused himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election that’s now led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, a decision that angered Trump and left Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in charge of the inquiry.
Sessions, who was a top adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign, announced in March 2017 that he had decided he should steer clear of “any matters arising from the campaigns” for president. Trump has called Sessions weak for doing so and said he never would have named him as attorney general had he known the recusal would follow.
Entitled to Briefings
By staying involved in the Cohen probe, Sessions is entitled to briefings on the status of the investigation, which is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York. That could put Sessions in the position of being asked by Trump, who strongly condemned the FBI’s raid on his longtime lawyer, to divulge information about the Cohen investigation.
Get the Exclusive
01.23.2025