2016 ELECTION/JEFF SESSIONS/MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP PEOPLE: “The Justice Department reiterated on Tuesday [4-24-18] that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was not overseeing any investigations related to the 2016 presidential election, following a report that Sessions has not recused himself from the inquiry into Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney…Sessions had declined to recuse himself from the investigation that led to search warrants being executed at Cohen’s New York home, office and hotel room earlier this month. Sessions is still being briefed about the investigation and could wind up recusing himself from specific parts of the inquiry, Bloomberg said. At least one aspect of the investigation into Cohen’s dealings appears to bear on the 2016 presidential campaign: Lawyers for Cohen have confirmed that among the records prosecutors sought in the searches was material relating to a $130,000 payment that Cohen arranged to Stormy Daniels just before the election. Daniels, the adult-film actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has called the payment ‘hush money’ aimed at keeping quiet a sexual encounter she had with Trump a decade earlier.”
–Josh Gerstein, “Justice Department confirms Sessions’ recusal from election inquiries,” Politico. April 24, 2018 5:01 pm