Sessions says he'll continue on as attorney general for "as long as it's appropriate"
Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he will continue to serve as the Attorney General for "as long as it's appropriate" -- after President Trump said in an interview that he regretted appointing Sessions, given his recusal from the ongoing Russia investigation.
"I have the honor of serving as Attorney General. It's something goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself," he said, in response to a reporter's question about Mr. Trump's remarks. We love this job. We love this department, and I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate."
Mr. Trump told the New York Times in an interview that he never would have picked Sessions to lead the Justice Department if he'd known Sessions would recuse himself in the investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election.
"Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president," the president said in the 50-minute interview. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair -- and that's a mild word -- to the president."
Sessions went on to say that he's "totally confident" that he, along with the rest of the agency can continue to run the department in an effective way.
"We're serving right now, the work were doing today is the kind of work we intend to continue."
He added, "We and this Department of Justice will continue every single day to work hard to serve the national interests, and we wholeheartedly join in priorities of President Trump."
In the last few months, after Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, he offered to resign, but Mr. Trump refused the offer, the Washington Post reported in June.
Sessions addressed the apparent tension with Mr. Trump at a Justice Department press conference announcing the takedown of one of the largest dark web markets in the world.