Editorial: If the Justice Department ever probes Trump’s alleged ties to Russia, Jeff Sessions needs to stay away

If Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with efforts by Russia to help him defeat Hillary Clinton — a nightmare scenario for which no evidence has been produced so far — it would be first and foremost a political and constitutional crisis. But it also likely would involve violations of federal law. And even if such collusion didn’t take place, there could be other matters involving Russia and Trump associates that would require decisions by the Department of Justice.

That department is now headed by Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, who as a senator from Alabama was an early and enthusiastic supporter of Trump’s candidacy. And President Trump, as he made clear at his stream-of-consciousness news conference last Thursday, rejects concerns about improper relationships between his campaign and Russia as a “ruse” and “fake news” fabricated “to try and make up for the loss of the Democrats.”

Given these facts, Sessions must recuse himself from any decision pertaining to those relationships — including any legal issues arising from former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador during the final days of the Obama administration.

At his confirmation hearings, Sessions told the Senate Judiciary Committee that, in light of his partisan activity during the campaign, he would recuse himself from any action involving Hillary Clinton or the Clinton Foundation. But he refused to make a similar commitment with regard to Russia-related investigations.

That’s illogical; it may also be illegal.

In a letter to Sessions last Friday, 25 organizations and individuals, including Common Cause and the Campaign Legal Center, cited a Justice Department regulation saying that “no employee shall participate in a criminal investigation or prosecution if he has a personal or political relationship with (1) any person or organization substantially involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation or prosecution; or (2) any person or organization which he knows has a specific and substantial interest that would be directly affected by the outcome of the investigation or prosecution.” Clearly Trump has an interest in an investigation that could cast doubt on the legitimacy of his election, and Sessions has an obvious “personal or political relationship” with Trump.

Ideally, the deputy attorney general would step in as acting attorney general when the attorney general has a conflict of interest, but that post is vacant. Although Trump has nominated a respected career prosecutor, Rod J. Rosenstein, to fill it, the Judiciary Committee has yet to schedule a hearing for him. If Rosenstein isn’t expeditiously confirmed, there is another option: Sessions could appoint a special counsel who would have the authority of the attorney general in matters related to Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

One way or another, Sessions needs to leave this issue to someone else.