ADVERTISEMENT

Trump Takes Aim at Sessions Again for Recusal in Russia Probe

US President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran deal from the Diplomatic Reception room of the White House
Getty Images
May 30, 2018

President Donald Trump took to Twitter Wednesday morning to shame Attorney General Jeff Sessions again for recusing himself from the Justice Department investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Trump called out Sessions by quoting Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy (S.C). The congressman appeared on "CBS This Morning" Wednesday where he sympathized with Trump's frustration with the attorney general.

Norah O'Donnell asked Gowdy if Trump asking Sessions to reverse his recusal, a request recently reported by the New York Times, would constitute obstruction of justice.

"I don't think so, I think what the president is doing is expressing frustration that Attorney General Sessions should have feared these reasons for recusal before he took the job, not afterward," Gowdy said.

"If I were the president and I picked someone to be the country's chief law enforcement officer and they told me later, 'Oh, by the way, I'm not going to be able to participate in the most important case in the office, I would be frustrated too. And that's how I read that – 'Senator Sessions, why didn't you tell me before I picked you?'"

After Trump finished quoting Gowdy, he affirmed he wishes he had picked somebody else for the attorney general job.

During Gowdy's interview on CBS, he also responded to reports the FBI had a "spy" or confidential informant in the Trump campaign leading up to the 2016 election. Gowdy said the FBI has an "obligation" to run out any leads it may have, which includes the use of informants, to understand any Russian interference in the election.

Watch the interview with Gowdy: