AG suggests openness to review of predecessors' actions

By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions suggested Thursday that he would be open to the appointment of an outside counsel to review actions taken by the Justice Department during the Obama administration.

Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt asked Sessions in an interview if the new attorney general would consider designating an outside counsel "not connected to politics" to take a second look at Justice Department actions that provoked Republican ire in the last eight years. Those include the Fast and Furious gun smuggling scandal and the decisions against bringing criminal charges over Hillary Clinton's email practices or the Internal Revenue Service's treatment of conservative groups.

Hewitt contended during his radio interview that the department had become "highly politicized" in the Obama administration and floated the idea of a special review by an attorney with the authority to bring criminal charges.

Sessions was noncommittal but left the door open, saying he would do everything he could to "restore the independence and professionalism of the Department of Justice."

"So we would have to consider whether or not some outside special counsel is needed," Sessions said. "Generally, a good review of that internally is the first step before any such decision is made."

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