With U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions admitting that he spoke with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. last year but did not disclose that when asked by the Senate during his confirmation hearings, members of the Florida congressional delegation from both sides of the aisle are saying he should recuse himself from investigations of Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election even as an old Republican rival of President Donald Trump is not ready to call on Sessions to step aside quite yet.
While the Trump administration is dismissing complaints about Sessions as an attack from “partisan Democrats,” several Republicans on Capitol Hill, including U.S. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rob Portman of Ohio and U.S. Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Darrell Issa of California are calling on the attorney general to recuse himself.
Sessions has, for the moment, at least one supporter in the Florida delegation. From his perch on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., appeared on NPR on Thursday and said Sessions could end up recusing himself but was not ready to call on the attorney general to do so.
"It is potentially the case that there is going to be Justice Department recommendations or referrals based on anything regarding the campaign," Rubio told NPR. "Depending on what more we learn about these meetings, it could very well be that the attorney general, in the interest of fairness and in his best interest, should potentially ask someone else to step in and play that role.
But other Republicans from the Sunshine State were calling on Sessions to recuse himself. U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., weighed in on Thursday, agreeing that Sessions should recuse himself when it comes to investigating Russia’s role in the election.
“The American people must have full trust and confidence in any and all government investigations into Russian efforts to undermine or manipulate our elections,” Curbelo said on Thursday. “Regardless of whether the Attorney General misspoke or misled at his Senate confirmation hearing, the Justice Department should include these alleged meetings in their investigation and Mr. Sessions should recuse himself from Justice Department activities related to the investigation.”
Curbelo was not the only Republican from Florida to say Sessions should recuse himself. Freshman U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., also took that position and even touched on whether or not Sessions should step down.
“Jeff Sessions needs to immediately clarify his Senate testimony and recuse himself from any investigation into Russian ties,” Mast said on Thursday. “If he cannot commit to ensuring this process is completed with full transparency and integrity, he should resign. The American people are demanding integrity, they are demanding answers and they deserve an unbiased investigation into the facts.”
Florida Democrats weighed in on Thursday and demanded Sessions recuse himself.
“Investigating every Russian connection to the Trump campaign and White House is crucial,” U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., posted on Twitter. “AG Sessions can no longer lead the investigation.”
Deutch weighed in again on the matter over Twitter on Thursday afternoon.
“If he can't lead the most important and urgent effort at DOJ, he cannot continue to lead the Department of Justice and should resign,” Deutch posted.
