The New York Times reports:
President Trump gave firm instructions in March to the White House’s top lawyer: stop the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, from recusing himself in the Justice Department’s investigation into whether Mr. Trump’s associates had helped a Russian campaign to disrupt the 2016 election.
Public pressure was building for Mr. Sessions, who had been a senior member of the Trump campaign, to step aside. But the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, carried out the president’s orders and lobbied Mr. Sessions to remain in charge of the inquiry, according to two people with knowledge of the episode.
Mr. McGahn was unsuccessful, and the president erupted in anger in front of numerous White House officials, saying he needed his attorney general to protect him. Mr. Trump said he had expected his top law enforcement official to safeguard him the way he believed Robert F. Kennedy, as attorney general, had done for his brother John F. Kennedy and Eric H. Holder Jr. had for Barack Obama.
Mr. Trump then asked, “Where’s my Roy Cohn?” He was referring to his former personal lawyer and fixer, who had been Senator Joseph R. McCarthy’s top aide during the investigations into communist activity in the 1950s and died in 1986.
EXCLUSIVE: Mueller’s Investigation reveals details of how Trump had WH counsel lobby Sessions not to recuse; how a WH lawyer tried to mislead the president about whether he could fire Comey; Preibus notes corroborate some of Comey’s claims. https://t.co/OxhitbBfg2
— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) January 5, 2018
Trump instructed Don McGahn in March: Stop Jeff Sessions from recusing himself in the Russia probe, two sources tell NYT.
When McGahn was unsuccessful, Trump erupted in anger in front of numerous W.H. officials, saying he needed his A.G. to protect him. https://t.co/s59I3JZ3DN
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 5, 2018
Our reporting shows how an aide to AG Jeff Sessions asked a Hill staffer four days before Comey was fired whether staffer had derogatory information on Comey, as part of apparent effort to undercut FBI director’s credibility https://t.co/OxhitbBfg2
— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) January 5, 2018