Jeff Sessions considering second special counsel investigation to address Republican concerns

Attorney General planning new inquiry into range of issues relating to Hillary Clinton, notably private email server and sale of Uranium One mining company to Russia

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is entertaining the idea of appointing a second special counsel to investigate a host of Republican concerns - including alleged wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation and the controversial sale of a uranium company to Russia - and has directed senior federal prosecutors to explore at least some of the matters and report back to him and his top deputy, according to a letter obtained by The Washington Post.

The revelation came in a response from the Justice Department to an inquiry from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte, Republican-Virginia, who in July and again in September called for Sessions to appoint a second special counsel to investigate concerns he had related to the 2016 election and its aftermath.

The list of matters he wanted probed was wide ranging, but included the FBI's handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, various dealings of the Clinton Foundation and several matters connected to the purchase of the Canadian mining company Uranium One by Russia's nuclear energy agency. Goodlatte took particular aim at former FBI Director James Comey, asking for a second special counsel to evaluate the leaks he directed about his conversations with President Donald Trump, among other things.

In response, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote that Sessions had "directed senior federal prosecutors to evaluate certain issues raised in your letters," and those prosecutors would "report directly to the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, as appropriate, and will make recommendations as to whether any matters not currently under investigation should be opened, whether any matters currently under investigation require further resources, or whether any matters merit the appointment of a Special Counsel."

Trump has repeatedly criticised his Justice Department for not aggressively probing a variety of conservative concerns. He said recently that officials there "should be looking at the Democrats and that it was "very discouraging" they were not "going after Hillary Clinton."

"Hopefully they are doing something and at some point, maybe we are going to all have it out," Trump said.

Sessions' relationship with the president has been significantly strained since he recused himself from the investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election. The President has publicly lambasted his attorney general and noted, had he known in advance of Sessions's recusal, he would not have appointed him to the post. It was after Sessions's recusal that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller to lead the investigation into the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

While the Justice Department is part of the executive branch - and the Attorney General is appointed by and answers to the president - the White House generally provides input on broad policy goals and does not weigh in on criminal probes.

In that context, the letter is likely to be seen by some, especially on the left, as Sessions' inappropriately bending to political pressure, possibly to save his job. Sessions, who was a Republican senator for Alabama before he was appointed attorney general, is also set to testify before Goodlatte's committee on Tuesday and was likely to face questions on the topics raised in the letter.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment for this article, as did a lawyer for Comey. Brian Fallon, who served as the press secretary for the Clinton campaign, noted that the Justice Department letter became public not long after it was revealed Donald Trump Jr had communicated with WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign.

"Like clockwork, just as we learn of damning details of Donald Trump Jr's contacts with WikiLeaks, the Trump administration is firing up the fog machine to distract from the Mueller probe," Fallon said.

In asking for a second special counsel in July, Goodlatte wrote that he wanted to "request assistance in restoring public confidence in our nation's justice system and its investigators." His letter, signed by 19 other Republicans, said that Judiciary Committee members were concerned that Mueller might not have a broad enough mandate to investigate other election-related matters, which he said included actions taken by Comey, Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Many of the items Goodlatte wanted probed had long been conservative talking points, some having to do with matters many considered long resolved: various decisions made in the Clinton email case, the Uranium One purchase, the so-called "unmasking" of people by the intelligence committee, and allegations, which officials have said were untrue, by Trump that he was wiretapped by his predecessors.

In the Justice Department's response, Boyd did not indicate which of the topics might draw greater interest than others, though he said the review by senior federal prosecutors would "better enable the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General to more effectively evaluate and manage the caseload." He noted the Justice Department Inspector General already was investigating several aspects of the Clinton email case and said once that probe was complete the department would assess "what, if any, additional steps are necessary to address any issues identified by that review."

"We will conduct this evaluation according to the highest standards of justice," he wrote.

A special counsel can be appointed when the Justice Department or a US Attorney's office has a conflict of interest, there are other "extraordinary circumstances" or it would otherwise be "in the public interest" to do so, according to the federal regulation governing such appointments.

The Washington Post