Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Sunday he stands by his decision to recuse himself from the investigation into whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russians during the 2016 election.
He also said his department is reviewing 27 cases concerning leaks of classified information, including looking into the process used by the FBI to get a FISA warrant to spy on a Trump campaign volunteer using the unverified dossier paid for by the Democratic National Committee.
The Justice Department is also looking into the leak concerning a phone call between the Russian ambassador and Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser Gen. Michael Flynn before the inauguration.
“That is a violation of the law to leak classified documents and it is being investigated,” Mr. Sessions confirmed on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“We are going to restore the rule of law. We are going to restore propriety and how things are managed,” he added, refusing to disclose any information regarding the review of Hillary Clinton’s emails.
The attorney general also said he did what he had to do in recusing himself from leading the Russian probe based on Justice Department regulations, because he couldn’t investigate a campaign where he was an active participant.
President Trump’s lawyer had reportedly urged Mr. Sessions not to step aside.
“You can’t ask other members of a department to follow the law and follow the rules that the attorney general himself refuses to do so,” he said.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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