Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Monday defended Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and said nobody has asked him about possibly replacing Sessions following a report that Trump was considering doing so.
“I’m so busy with my private law practice and security business it would be impossible for me to leave right now,” Giuliani told the New York Post. “It’s kind of presumptuous to even answer the question, but I don’t want you to think I want the job so that’s why I’m telling you I don’t. Nobody’s asked.”
His comment came after a Monday morning report that Trump was toying with the idea of replacing Sessions with Giuliani, days after Trump said he regretted nominating Sessions for the position.
In an interview with the New York Times, Trump said he was angry with Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, and said he never would have selected him for attorney general had he known the former Alabama senator was going to do so.
“Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else,” Trump said.
After Sessions’ recusal, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller to oversee the investigation.
Trump repeated his criticism on Monday morning by questioning why neither he nor the House and Senate Intelligence Committees were investigating Hillary Clinton.
“So why aren’t the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?” Trump tweeted Monday.
But in a separate interview with CNN, Giuliani defended Sessions and said he “made the right decision under the rules of the Justice Department” to recuse himself from the Russia probe.
Sessions said last week he planned to remain in his job despite Trump’s comments about him.
