Time for a Special Counsel in the Russiagate Scandal
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Thursday that he is recusing himself from “any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaigns for president of the United States.”
Good for him. But it’s not enough.
Sessions’ announcement, which came after the revelation that he held several conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 campaign without disclosing those meetings to Congress, was a step the attorney general should have taken weeks ago, as we explained in a letter along with a bipartisan collection of two dozen other groups and individuals on Feb. 17.
The question remains, however, whether even with this recusal, we can have confidence that all of the relevant investigations—not just the ones from which Sessions has recused himself—are being conducted to the high standards of independence and professionalism the American people rightfully demand from the Department of Justice.
Without more than Sessions’ narrow recusals, we cannot. This DOJ should follow the example of earlier ones, including in the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and appoint a special counsel to conduct the investigations. Only with an independent prosecutor exercising the full authority of the attorney general can we be sure that the truth will become known and the interests of the American people protected.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/donald-trump-russia-contacts-special-counsel-214859
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