This story was updated at 6:44 p.m.
An attorney for Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he is not under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller for perjury.
ABC News reported Wednesday that Mueller took over a criminal investigation that began under former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
“The Special Counsel‘s Office has informed me that after interviewing the Attorney General and conducting additional investigation, the Attorney General is not under investigation for false statements or perjury in his confirmation hearing testimony and related written submissions to Congress,” said attorney Chuck Cooper in a statement.
McCabe reportedly oversaw a criminal probe examining Sessions demonstrated a “lack of candor” when he testified before lawmakers about his contacts with Russian officials, according to a report.
Sessions did not know about the investigation McCabe oversaw nearly a year ago when he decided to fire McCabe on Friday, just before he was due to retire, a source told the Washington Examiner.
An internal investigation revealed McCabe “lacked candor” when he spoke to inspector general investigators about communications he had with a Wall Street Journal reporter in 2016 who was writing a story about the FBI’s internal conversations about the agency’s investigation into the Clinton emails.
That investigation into McCabe’s conduct ultimately resulted in a recommendation to the FBI’s disciplinary board that he be fired, which Sessions acted on.
Sessions has been accused of making misleading statements about his contacts with Russians during the 2016 campaign. Democrats called on federal officials to look into his comments on the matter.
Sources told ABC News the criminal investigation was authorized by McCabe after Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and then-Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked the FBI in March 2017 to look into “all contacts” Sessions might have had with Russian officials, including “whether any laws were broken in the course of those contacts or in any subsequent discussion of whether they occurred.”
The two senators said in their letter to then-FBI Director James Comey they were concerned by Sessions’ “lack of candor to the Committee and his failure thus far to accept responsibility for testimony that could be construed as perjury.”
President Trump fired Comey in May 2017.
Top Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill were reportedly told of the investigation during a meeting last year with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and McCabe.
At the time of the meeting, Sessions had recused himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, a decision that has since earned the ire of Trump.
Sessions’ recusal from the Russia probe meant Rosenstein had authority over it. Rosenstein then tapped Robert Mueller to lead the investigation into Russian meddling.
The special counsel also took over the investigation into Sessions, according to ABC News.
A lawyer who represents the attorney general told ABC News Sessions isn’t under investigation.
“The Special Counsel’s office has informed me that after interviewing the attorney general and conducting additional investigation, the attorney general is not under investigation for false statements or perjury in his confirmation hearing testimony and related written submissions to Congress,” Chuck Cooper, Sessions’ lawyer, said.
Sessions met with Mueller’s team two months ago.
