Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday stood by his decision to recuse himself from the Russian investigation, despite President Trump’s repeated criticisms of that decision.
“I understand his feelings about it because this has been a big distraction for [Trump],” Sessions told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. “I talked to experts in the Department of Justice, people who are trained in that. I am confident I made the right decision, the decision that is consistent for the rule of law. An attorney general who doesn’t follow the law is not very effective in leading the Department of Justice. Knowing the integrity that’s required of the attorney general, I believe I made the right decision.”
Sessions’ comments came amid a two-day trip to El Salvador he’s using to push forward with the Justice Department’s fight against transnational gang activity and illegal immigration.
The trip also serves as a respite from a week of public attacks by Trump against Sessions.
Last week, Trump said he was disappointed in Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s Russia investigation, and said he would not have appointed him to be attorney general had he known he would recuse.
Sessions said Thursday that if Trump decided to fire him, he would “be glad to yield” to the president.
“He can make that clear any time,” Sessions said. “I serve at the pleasure of the president. If he wants to make a change, he can certainly do so. I would be glad to yield in that circumstance. But I do believe that we are making tremendous progress.”
The attorney general made his case for why he should stay in office, ticking off progress on his agenda, especially in reducing illegal immigration, an issue that Sessions said he and Trump “share a common interest.”
“I can feel the movement,” Sessions said. “We’ve achieved in many ways more than I thought at this point in time. I believe that I understand [Trump’s] mission. I understand his goals. That’s why I supported him for president. I share his beliefs that we’ve got to do more about crime, more about illegal immigration, more about gangs and violence, and it’s an honor and a pleasure to be able to lead that effort.”
Sessions said he is eager to pursue another priority of his that he shares with Trump: prosecuting leaks of classified information.
He said the Justice Department plans to hold a press conference next week to announce new leak cases, and vowed that “some people need to go to jail.”
“I have not been happy with the past prosecutions and investigations of criminal leaks,” Sessions said. “But we already have multiple numbers of prosecutions compared to last year at this time. We are stepping up those cases. It cannot continue. Some people need to go to jail. If we can make cases, they are going to jail. The president has every right to ask the Department of Justice to be more aggressive in that. And we intend to.”
