Attorney General Jeff Sessions retains Charles Cooper as personal attorney
The Justice Department confirmed to CBS News that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has retained Charles J. Cooper as his personal attorney.
Cooper is a founding member and chairman of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC and was named by the National Law Journal as one of the best civil litigators in Washington. He joined DOJ's Civil Rights Division in 1981 and was later appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the position of assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel.
In a statement to CBS News, Cooper said "I can confirm that I represent the Attorney General, but, as with all clients, cannot otherwise comment on confidential client matters."
The retainer does not pose as a significant development in the ongoing Russia investigation, since Mr. Cooper worked with Sessions throughout the confirmation process and during subsequent hearings.
Sessions most recently testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he defended himself amid allegations that he had a third undisclosed meeting with a Russian official during the 2016 campaign and fielded questions about his role in the firing of James Comey as FBI director and the reason for his recusal from the Russian investigation.
He said that when the reporter asked him about any meetings with Russians in March, he said he "immediately recalled" an encounter at the Republican National Convention and a meeting in his Senate office with Kislyak. He said he "never intended" not to disclose those meetings publicly. He said he gladly would have disclosed a third reported meeting, had he remembered it.
Sessions told lawmakers, "I was your colleague in this body for 20 years, and the suggestion that I participated in any collusion or that I was aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country, which I have served with honor for over 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie."
Cooper and Sessions are close colleagues and personal friends. Cooper has often been seen sitting behind Sessions in public hearings on Capitol Hill and is a part of the attorney general's inner circle.
CBS News' Paula Reid contributed to this report