Mr. Whitaker had also sharply criticized the Russia investigation while he was a legal analyst on CNN. Mr. Whitaker decided not to do that, but he was willing to engage in a conversation with the department’s career ethics lawyers. The review was focused primarily on the statements Mr. Whitaker had made as a political commentator, and did not include his ties to the White House. And the third was an annual ethics review on the department’s various policies and procedures. The ethics lawyers could not cite a specific example of a previous attorney general recusing himself on the grounds of the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Source: New York Times December 20, 2018 20:37 UTC