US Attorney General Jeff Sessions
has agreed to recuse himself from an investigation into alleged Russian
interference in the 2016 election.
His comments on
Thursday came a day after the Washington Post reported that Sessions,
a former senator who advised Donald Trump's campaign on foreign policy and
other issues, met the Russian ambassador in July and September, just as accusations
of Russian interference in the election were building.
At a news conference, Sessions
drew a distinction between his conversations with the Russian ambassador in his
role as a senator and his role in the Trump campaign.
He said the decision
to recuse himself from a federal investigation came at the urging of senior
career officials in the justice department.
"I feel I should
not be involved in investigating a campaign I had a role in,", Sessions
said.
His critics say his two
conversations with Moscow's US envoy Sergey Kislyak contradict Sessions'
statements during his confirmation hearing when he told Congress he had not had
communications with Russians during the campaign.
Calling for Sessions
to resign, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi accused him of "lying under
oath".
The White House has
stood behind Sessions, though officials say they first learned about his
contacts with the ambassador from a reporter on Wednesday night.
Trump said he had
"total" confidence in Sessions and did not think he needed to step
aside from the investigation.
The justice
department has maintained there was nothing improper about Sessions' contacts
or his answers to Congress.
Trump has been
trailed for months by questions about potential ties to Russia. He has
vigorously denied being aware of any contacts his associates had with Russia
during the campaign and has also insisted he has no financial ties to Russia.
The justice
department acknowledged two separate Sessions interactions with Kislyak, both
after cybersecurity firms had concluded that Russian intelligence agencies were
behind cyber-hacking of the Democratic National Committee.
-Aljazeera
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