Ethics boffin explains
Walter Shaub, former Director of the Office of Government Ethics, on Twitter this morning:
THREAD (4 tweets): 18 U.S.C. § 208 makes it a crime for a federal employee to participate in a particular matter in which he/she has a financial interest. An investigation is a particular matter. A subject of an investigation has a financial interest in the investigation. /1
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 5, 2018
The subjects of any investigation of the Trump campaign’s communications with Russian officials potentially include any member of the campaign who communicated with Russian officials in 2016. /2
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 5, 2018
Jeff Sessions was a member of the Trump campaign. He communicated with Russian officials in 2016. He did not reveal this in his Congressional testimony. Thus, Session was a potential subject of any such investigation and, at a minimum, could certainly expect to be a witness. /3
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 5, 2018
Therefore, Jeff Sessions’ recusal was mandatory. Pressuring him to participate as a government employee in the investigation amounts to pressuring him to commit a crime. /4
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 5, 2018
Then he went on CNN to talk about it.
"I don't have words I can use on TV this morning to describe how angry I am to learn this," says ex-Office of Gov't Ethics director Walter Shaub of reports Trump ordered WH lawyer to stop Sessions from recusing himself from Russia investigation https://t.co/hNuTwtVQBl
— New Day (@NewDay) January 5, 2018
“I don’t have words I can use on TV this morning…”
Depends what network you’re on…
There are plenty of shows that have made that old George Carlin routine obsolete.