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Whitaker chose not to recuse from overseeing Mueller probe, but ethics official considered it a 'close call'
Washington (CNN)Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker has opted not to recuse himself from overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation despite the opinion of a Justice Department ethics official who believed, while a "close call," he should step aside, according to a senior department official close to the process.
Whitaker, who has previously criticized the investigation, never sought a formal recommendation about whether he needed to recuse, the source said. Instead, he received guidance on his options and the applicable rules over the course of three meetings with ethics officials and multiple discussions with his own advisers.
Ultimately, it was Whitaker's decision, but the view of ethics officials will likely raise fresh questions for Democrats on Capitol Hill who have sounded the alarm about whether he will try to undercut Mueller's work.
The ethics officials concluded there was no actual legal conflict presented that would require Whitaker to recuse himself. For example, he doesn't have a familial member involved in the probe, and unlike the situation with former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Whitaker was not a surrogate for President Donald Trump's campaign.
However, ethics officials noted there could be an appearance of a conflict based on Whitaker's past public comments about the investigation, as the standard is whether a reasonable person would conclude that he couldn't be impartial. The ethics official tasked with dealing with the review described it as a "close call" whether Whitaker needed to step aside but believed, in his view, that Whitaker should recuse himself out of an abundance of caution.
A tight group of Whitaker's advisers who were heavily engaged in the ethics review process with him and ethics officials, then did their own review and ultimately recommended he not recuse himself.
Whitaker was of the mind that if it was deemed a close call, he did not want to bind his successors in a situation where there was only an appearance, not an actual legal conflict, according to the senior DOJ official close to the process.
As part of this process, ethics officials could not cite a single example or find precedent when an attorney general (or acting) was advised to recuse based on appearance only. The closest example that ethics officials could find was someone who had rendered opinions on a legal matter while in private practice and then later came to the Justice Department. It was found in that case that the employee did not need to recuse....
Does the corruption of this administration have any end? They've done no "SWAMP DRAINING" just added worse swamp critters!:roll: