During his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions stated his recusal from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, “does not, and cannot interfere with my ability to oversee the Department of Justice, including the FBI,” and that “I did not recuse myself from defending my honor against scurrilous and false allegations.” Sessions said, “[T]he scope of my recusal, however, does not, and cannot interfere with my ability to oversee the Department of Justice, including the FBI, which has an $8 billion budget and 35,000 employees. I presented to the president my concerns and those of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about the ongoing leadership issues at the FBI, as stated in my letter recommending the removal of Mr. Comey, along with the deputy attorney general’s memorandum on that issue, which have been released publicly by the White House. Those represent a clear statement of my views. I adopted the Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein’s points that he made in his memorandum and made my recommendation. It is absurd, frankly, to suggest that a recusal from a single specific investigation would render the attorney general unable to manage the leadership of the various Department of