Sessions recused himself in early 2017 from overseeing the Russia inquiry in part to avoid the kind of conflicts like what Mr. Trump proposed. The president’s lawyers, Rudolph W. Giuliani and Jay A. Sekulow, said in a telephone interview that Mr. Trump was not ordering the inquiry closed but simply expressing his opinion. “It’s not a call to action,” Mr. Giuliani said, adding that it was a sentiment that Mr. Trump and his lawyers have expressed publicly before. Mr. Sekulow said: “He doesn’t feel that he has to intervene in the process, nor is he intervening.”His lawyers said the president wanted the legal process to play out. “He’s expressing his opinion, but he’s not talking of his special powers he has” as president, Mr. Giuliani said.

Source: New York Times August 01, 2018 14:17 UTC