Congressional Republicans, straining to defend the Trump administration amid investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election, resisted growing calls on Thursday for a special prosecutor or select congressional committee to review the matter, even as Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any inquiry. That decision followed a day in which Republicans mostly closed ranks around Mr. Sessions, a well-liked former Senate colleague, amid revelations that he spoke with the Russian ambassador last year, seemingly contradicting testimony from his confirmation hearing in January. Initially, the fallout seemed to spawn fissures among Republicans: Several, including Senators Rob Portman of Ohio and Susan Collins of Maine, were quick to call for Mr. Sessions’s recusal, defying party leaders — including President Trump — who had said earlier on Thursday that they saw no reason for it. But by day’s end, consensus appeared to have been restored: Mr. Sessions would step aside in any investigation. And that, Republicans suggested, would be enough, at least for now.
None joined the chorus of Democrats, led by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, demanding Mr. Sessions’s immediate resignation.
And it was not clear that the episode would alter the landscape of investigations on Capitol Hill. “First and foremost, any talk of resignation is nonsense,” said Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, before which Mr. Sessions testified. He praised Mr. Sessions as “an honest and forthright public servant,” and thanked him for pledging to send a letter to the committee “to clear up any confusion regarding his testimony.”
Democrats were unmoved. “They only do the right thing when they are caught doing the wrong thing,” Mr. Schumer said of the Trump administration.
Full Article: Sticking With Trump, Republicans Resist Call for Broader Russian Inquiry – The New York Times.