Ex-Sessions staffer: ‘No-brainer’ for him to recuse himself

An ex-staffer to Attorney General Jeff Sessions said it should be a “no-brainer” for the former Alabama senator recuse himself from any probes related to Russian involvement in President Trump’s campaign.

The day after revelations that Sessions may have given false testimony on his contact with Russian officials, W. Hunter Walton, a former aide who also worked for Mitt Romney, pointed to his past work of trying to get Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to recuse herself from an Affordable Care Act (ACA) case because she worked in the administration while the law was being written.

“I spent countless hours working on argument for Kagen [sic] to recuse from ACA cases for Sessions. Recusal should be no brainer for him,” Walton tweeted on Thursday.

{mosads}In Walton’s Twitter bio, he describes himself as “Never Trump,” though his former boss was an early backer of the billionaire who frequently made public appearances on Trump’s behalf during the campaign.

Sessions said early Thursday morning that he’d be willing to recuse himself from any investigation related to Russian involvement in Trump’s campaign if it’s “appropriate.”

The attorney general’s comments were sparked by reports late Wednesday that he spoke twice with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before the November elections despite testifying under oath that he “did not have communications with the Russians.”

Sessions clarified in an NBC News interview that he did not discuss the presidential campaign with any Russian officials.

“Well, I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaigns,” Sessions said in the interview. “Those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false. I don’t have anything else to say about that.”

There has been mounting calls from Republicans calling on Sessions to step aside so that an independent probe can be conducted.

Democrats have also been calling for a recusal, while others — including House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) — have called on Sessions to resign.