WASHINGTON: President Donald
Trump directed his White House counsel to tell attorney general
Jeff Sessions to not recuse himself from the justice department's investigation into potential ties between
Russia and the Trump campaign, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The conversation between Don McGahn, the president's White House counsel, and Sessions took place on the president's orders and occurred just before the attorney general announced that he would step aside from the ongoing inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, according to a person with knowledge of the interaction.
The episode is known to special counsel
Robert Mueller and his team of prosecutors and is likely of interest to them as they look into whether Trump's actions as president, including the May firing of FBI director James Comey, amount to improper efforts to obstruct the Russia investigation.
Sessions announced on March 2 that he would recuse himself from the Russia probe Sessions' recusal left deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein in charge of the Russia investigation. But once Trump fired Comey two months later, Rosenstein appointed Mueller, the former FBI director, to run the probe and to report to him.
