Schumer Says Attorney General Should Resign

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign.

"Because the Department of Justice should be above reproach, for the good of the country, Attorney General Sessions should resign," Schumer of New York said at a news conference in Washington.

He also said Sessions may well become a subject of an investigation.

Several Republicans and Democrats have called for Sessions to recuse himself from an investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election following the revelation he talked twice with Russia's ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign.

California Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Sessions must either recuse himself from any probes into Russian interference in the U.S. election or resign. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said Sessions must resign.

The conversations seem to contradict sworn statements Sessions gave to Congress during his confirmation hearings.

Schumer says a special prosecutor is needed to investigate the allegations of Russian interference and also look into whether the investigation has already been compromised by Sessions.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has accused Sessions of "lying under oath" and demanded that he resign.

Earlier, a Congressional Republican said Sessions should recuse himself from any investigation into Russia meddling in the election and links to the Trump campaign.

In a statement, congressman Darrell Issa of California joined House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz in calling on Sessions to recuse himself now.

Issa says, "We need a clear-eyed view of what the Russians actually did so that all Americans can have faith in our institutions."

It is members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who typically meet with foreign ambassadors, not Armed Services Committee lawmakers whose responsibility is oversight of the military and the Pentagon. Congressional contact with Russian officials was limited after the invasion of Crimea and due to Moscow's close relationship with Syria, a pariah for much of the West.