Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker will not recuse himself from overseeing the Russia probe, despite mounting pressure from Democrats who cite his “hostility” toward Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation. A small group of senior advisers then did their own review and recommended that Whitaker not recuse himself. "It's a close call," one senior DOJ ethics official said, noting that he would have recommended Whitaker recuse out of an abundance of caution. Earlier this month, Trump appointed William Barr, who served as attorney general under the late former President George H.W. But according to a Wall Street Journal report this week, Barr also sent a 20-page memo to the Justice Department calling Mueller's Russia probe "legally unsupportable" and "potentially disastrous," specifically referring any inquiries into obstruction of justice.

Source: Fox News December 20, 2018 15:12 UTC