A new report from the New York Times suggests that President Donald Trump attempted to personally intervene to stop Attorney General Jeff Sessions from recusing himself from the Russia probe.
According to the report published Thursday night, Trump directed White House counsel Donald F. McGhan to ask the attorney general not to recuse himself from the Russia probe. McGahn lobbied Sessions, but was ultimately unsuccessful in persuading him. Sessions stepped aside from the investigation in March after public pressure built over his failure to disclose several 2016 meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Sessions was still a senator at the time, and acting as a key adviser for Trump's campaign.
After Sessions recused himself from the investigation, Trump was reportedly furious at Sessions for recusing himself from the probe, which he viewed as a failure to protect him, as he saw previous attorney generals protect their presidents.
Mr. Trump then asked, “Where’s my Roy Cohn?” He was referring to his former personal lawyer and fixer, who had been Senator Joseph R. McCarthy’s top aide during the investigations into communist activity in the 1950s and died in 1986.
Read the full report from the New York Times
Photo: Getty Images