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Donald Trump expresses regret over appointing Jeff Sessions Attorney General

President reportedly says veteran senator should not have removed himself from Russia investigation

Eric Beech
Thursday 20 July 2017 10:04 BST
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Tension has apparently been building between the pair in recent weeks
Tension has apparently been building between the pair in recent weeks

Donald Trump has said he would not have appointed Jeff Sessions as Attorney General if he had known Mr Sessions would remove himself from the Russia investigation, according to a New York Times interview.

“Sessions should have never recused [removed] 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,” the Times quoted the US President as saying.

Mr Sessions excused himself in March from the probe into allegations of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.

He did so after failing to disclose at his confirmation hearing that he had held meetings last year with Russia’s ambassador.

A spokesman for the Attorney General declined a request for comment.

There were media reports last month that Mr Sessions, a former US senator who was an early supporter of the Trump campaign, had offered to resign because of tensions with Mr Trump.

Mr Trump also told The New York Times that a conversation he had with Vladimir Putin during a dinner at the G20 summit in Germany earlier this month lasted about 15 minutes and was mostly about “pleasantries”.

That conversation has sparked controversy because it was only disclosed on Tuesday.

Ian Bremmer, the president of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, who said he was told of the meeting by other world leaders present at the summit, said the meeting lasted about an hour.

Reuters

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