Washington (CNN) Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker has opted not to recuse himself from overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation despite the opinion of a Justice Department ethics official who believed, while a "close call," he should step aside, according to a senior department official close to the process. Whitaker, who has previously criticized the investigation, never sought a formal recommendation about whether he needed to recuse, the source said. Instead, he received guidance on his options and the applicable rules over the course of three meetings with ethics officials and multiple discussions with his own advisers. The ethics officials concluded there was no actual legal conflict presented that would require Whitaker to recuse himself. The ethics official tasked with dealing with the review described it as a "close call" whether Whitaker needed to step aside but believed, in his view, that Whitaker should recuse himself out of an abundance of caution.

Source: CNN December 20, 2018 14:47 UTC