--- title: Jeff Sessions Russia: Who Runs the Donald Trump Probes Now? description: Jeff Sessions announced that he would recuse himself from any investigations into President Donald Trump's campaign. Here's what's next canonical: https://time.com/4689960/jeff-sessions-russia-recuse-donald-trump/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-03T15:26:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:19:09.083Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sessions Recused Himself. So Who’s in Charge of Trump Investigations Now? og:description: Here's what you need to know og:url: https://time.com/4689960/jeff-sessions-russia-recuse-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt376f123e94afa27f/6988bcd34dd2157facefdfeb/jeff-sessions2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2391 og:image:height: 1345 og:image:alt: Attorney General Jeff Sessions og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sessions Recused Himself. So Who’s in Charge of Trump Investigations Now? twitter:description: Here's what you need to know twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt376f123e94afa27f/6988bcd34dd2157facefdfeb/jeff-sessions2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jeff Sessions Recused Himself. So Who’s in Charge of Trump Investigations Now? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=38997403-9214-41b4-9211-6bed32a70b3a&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Attorney General Jeff Sessions Recuses Himself From Trump Campaign Investigations [Watch (HLS stream): Attorney General Jeff Sessions Recuses Himself From Trump Campaign Investigations](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/D4mB8bbw.m3u8) (1:16)  _Published 2017-03-02. Under fire for previously undisclosed contact with the Russian ambassador, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Thursday that he would recuse himself from any investigations related to President Trump’s campaign_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 3, 2017 3:26 PM UTC  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 3, 2017 3:26 PM UTC Attorney General Jeff Sessions [announced this week](http://time.com/4689524/jeff-sessions-recuse-russia-trump-transcript/?xid=homepage) that he would [recuse himself](http://time.com/4689877/recuses-meaning-jeff-sessions-donald-trump/?xid=homepage) from any investigations into [President Donald Trump’](http://time.com/4689863/donald-trump-jeff-sessions-russia/)s campaign. But the man who would run the probes in his place hasn’t been confirmed yet. In the event that an attorney general recuses him or herself, which essentially means to step aside and decline to participate in an investigation, the responsibility then falls to the deputy attorney general. The Trump Administration, however, does not have an official deputy in place yet, and there’s a chance that neither the acting nor the confirmed deputy attorney general ends up overseeing campaign-related probes. Here’s what you need to know. **Who is the current deputy attorney general?** The post is currently held by Dana Boente, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Trump appointed him in January after [firing](http://time.com/4654665/president-trump-sally-yates-immigration-order/?iid=sr-link1) acting attorney general Sally Yates for refusing to defend Trump’s executive order imposing a travel ban on some immigrants from several majority-Muslim countries, which was being challenged in federal court. For now, Boente is the person who would run any probes Sessions recused himself from. Sessions said in a Justice Department [statement](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-sessions-statement-recusal), “Consistent with the succession order for the Department of Justice, Acting Deputy Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Dana Boente shall act as and perform the functions of the Attorney General with respect to any matters from which I have recused myself to the extent they exist.” **Who is up for the confirmed position?** Boente might not be acting deputy attorney general for much longer. A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday on Trump’s permanent pick for the position, Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein is the U.S. attorney for Maryland, one of the only George W. Bush-appointed U.S. attorneys that President Barack Obama kept in place, [the Washington _Post_ reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/profile-of-rod-rosenstein-us-attorney-for-maryland/2011/09/29/gIQAfOTWYL%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.38abc5246fa1). Given that he would now oversee any Justice Department investigations into Trump’s campaign or connections to Russia, his hearing will likely be dominated by questions about how he would handle such probes. The timeline isn’t set for when Rosenstein might be confirmed. If a relevant investigation is launched before then, or if he is not confirmed, Boente would be in charge. **Could it be neither of them?** There’s another option. Boente or Rosenstein, whoever is deputy attorney general at the time an inquiry is launched, could appoint a special prosecutor in his place. The [rules](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/28/600.1) for appointing a special counsel require three criteria to be met: 1\. The attorney general or acting attorney general must “\[determine\] that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted.” 2\. “That investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a United States Attorney’s Office or litigating Division of the Department of Justice would present a conflict of interest for the Department or other extraordinary circumstances.” 3\. “That under the circumstances, it would be in the public interest to appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume responsibility for the matter.” **Read More:** [What to Know About Jeff Sessions and Russia](http://time.com/4688982/jeff-sessions-russia-contact-campaign/?xid=homepage) Some members of Congressional leadership are already calling on Boente to appoint an outside prosecutor, including top Senate Democrat [Chuck Schumer](http://time.com/4688760/jeff-sessions-russia-resign-chuck-schumer-transcript/). ## Transcript Let me share a few thoughts, first, about the comments that I made to the committee that have been said to be incorrect and false, let me be clear, I never had meetings with Russian operatives, or Russian intermediaries, about the Trump campaign And the idea that I was part of a quote continuing exchange of information during the campaign, between Trump surrogates, and intermediaries for the Russian government is totally false. That is the question that Senator Franken asked me I have now decided to refuse myself from any existing or future investigations of any man relating in anyway through the campaign with President of the United States. I will only say this announcement should not be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of any investigation More suggestive of the scope of any such investigation because we at the Department of Justice resist confirming or denying the very existence of investigation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4689960/jeff-sessions-russia-recuse-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4689960/jeff-sessions-russia-recuse-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Jeff Sessions Recused Himself. 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