White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has come out swinging against anyone – including members of the Republican Party – who believes that Attorney General Jeff Sessions needs to recuse himself from investigations into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russian officials. In an excerpt released from a Fox News interview that will be aired in full on Friday, Spicer lashed out at people who are calling for Sessions to either resign or recuse himself. Sessions has come under fire for not disclosing at his Senate confirmation hearing that he twice met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak over the course of the 2016 presidential campaign.
“People who actually believe that or anything close to that ought to not only feel ashamed, but should immediately apologize to A.G. Sessions for the offense,” Spicer told Fox News. “As a matter of fact, if I were them, I would flat out just resign whatever position they’re holding and would go somewhere far away, like Montana, for example, and would buy a herd of horses and would never practice politics, ever again. Honestly, I’m appalled by the fact that we’re focusing on petty bickering at a time when the country is at a standstill. We need to be moving forward, in giant steps, not sitting around idly and arguing amongst ourselves. But as always, America seems to be a priority on everyone’s list only for the duration of the election.”
Asked for his opinion of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ failure to disclose what many felt were hugely important information during his Senate confirmation hearing, the White House Press Secretary said that it’s “a joke” that Sessions is “being crucified for something the past administration did almost daily.” “Look, regardless of who those men were or where they’re from, the fact to the matter is that everybody seems to be overlooking a very important thing here,” Spicer opined. “Okay, yes – they were Russians, but they weren’t just any Russians. They were diplomats and were in the United States in an official capacity. They weren’t here to detonate a nuclear warhead, nor were they here to spy on us and steal our secrets. The Cold War is over, has been for a long time.”
Asked to elaborate on his comment, the Press Secretary continued, “Am I really going to have to break out a pen and paper here? They were Russians, yes, okay, but they were in the United States, people. That makes them Americans and therefore, Sessions was in no way in violation of any law or decree, nor was he at any risk of assassination, kidnapping, revealing government secrets or whatever else you people seem to be worried about. He didn’t go to them; they were the ones who came to our turf, to our territory, which is why we, or rather, the Attorney General, had the upper hand during every single one of those meetings. Everybody needs to relax and stop bitching about what could have been and worry about what’s going to be happening to all of us if we don’t start fixing things soon,” he concluded.
