Attorney General Sessions forced to recuse from Russia investigation after lying about contacts

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election after it was revealed he had twice met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign—meetings he failed to disclose during his confirmation hearing when explicitly asked about campaign contacts with Russians. Under oath, Sessions had said "I did not have communications with the Russians." The revelation forced Sessions to recuse himself under pressure, a move that infuriated Trump. Trump called the controversy a "total witch hunt" and defended Sessions. The recusal was significant because it meant Sessions could not oversee or interfere with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, which Trump desperately wanted to control. Trump's later attempts to get Sessions to "unrecuse" himself and Trump's eventual firing of Sessions stemmed from this moment.