--- ---  # Read Attorney General Jeff Sessions' Remarks on Recusing Himself by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:07 PM UTCPublished: Mar 2, 2017 9:35 PM UTC  Attorney General Jeff Sessions listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 8, 2017. Attorney General Jeff Sessions listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 8, 2017.Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:07 PM UTCPublished: Mar 2, 2017 9:35 PM UTC Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced he would [recuse himself](http://time.com/4689492/jeff-sessions-russia-recuse/) from any investigations involving President Trump’s campaign, following reports that he [did not disclose meeting](http://time.com/4688090/jeff-sessions-russian-ambassador-trump-campaign/) with the Russian ambassador. At a press conference at the Department of Justice, Sessions said that his [meetings with the Russian official](http://time.com/4688494/jeff-sessions-russia-confirmation/) were not improper, saying the decision stemmed from his role as a campaign surrogate. “I should not be involved in investigating a campaign I had a role in,” he said. Read a running transcript of Sessions remarks. --- > “” --- Check back for a complete transcript later. Jeff Sessions Recuse: Attorney General Will Not Investigate ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4689524/jeff-sessions-recuse-russia-trump-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4689524/jeff-sessions-recuse-russia-trump-transcript/"},"headline":"Read Attorney General Jeff Sessions' Remarks on Recusing Himself","datePublished":"2017-03-02T21:35:42.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-24T12:07:58.000Z","description":"Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced he would recuse himself from any investigations involving President Trump's campaign.","url":"https://time.com/4689524/jeff-sessions-recuse-russia-trump-transcript/","keywords":["Jeff Sessions","russia","White House","justice","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3e95e26d084d63b/6988bcd20b72e3854e6ecd62/jeff-sessions-attorney-general-russia-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3e95e26d084d63b/6988bcd20b72e3854e6ecd62/jeff-sessions-attorney-general-russia-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Donald Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions","caption":"President Donald Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions","creditText":"Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/jeff-sessions/","name":"Jeff Sessions"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4689524/jeff-sessions-recuse-russia-trump-transcript/","name":"Read Attorney General Jeff Sessions' Remarks on Recusing Himself"}}]}] ```