FBI leadership opted not to share concerns about President Trump’s interactions with James B. Comey with Attorney General Jeff Sessions because they expected him to be recused from all Russia-related issues “for a variety of reasons,” the former FBI director testified Thursday.
The comments raise the specter that there was more to Mr. Session’s decision to recuse himself from the ongoing investigation into Russian attempts to interfere in the presidential election than what has been publicly disclosed.
“What was it about the attorney general’s own interactions with the Russians or his behavior with regard to the investigation that would have led the entire leadership of the FBI to make this decision?” asked Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat.
Mr. Comey said officials believed that Mr. Sessions was very close to recusing himself.
“We also were aware of facts I can’t discuss in an open setting, that would make his continued engagement in a Russia-related investigation problematic,” Mr. Comey said. “And so we were convinced, and had already heard that the career people were recommending that he recuse himself, that he was not going to be in contact with Russia-related matters much longer and that turned out to be the case.”
In March, Mr. Sessions recused himself from the Justice Department investigation into Moscow’s meddling in the presidential election,
Announcing the decision, Mr. Sessions characterized his recusal as being from “any existing or future investigations of any matter relating in any way to the campaigns for president.”
The attorney general had come under additional scrutiny just before the March 2 announcement when news broke that he had met twice with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during during the course of the campaign, during which he stumped for Mr. Trump.
Justice Department staff recommended Mr. Sessions recuse himself, he said, solely because of his involvement in the Trump campaign, where he was a prominent surrogate and chairman of the campaign’s national security advisory committee.
“They said since I had involvement with the campaign, I should not be involved in any campaign investigation,” Mr. Sessions said at the time.
Mr. Comey was also asked Thursday about the degree to which he thought Mr. Sessions had adhered to his recusal, including whether he was following that decision in relation to his role in Mr. Comey’s firing.
“That’s a question I can’t answer, I think that’s a reasonable question,” Mr. Comey said. “If I was fired because of the Russia investigation, why was the attorney general involved in that chain, I don’t know.”
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.