Trump: Wouldn’t have picked Sessions if he knew of recusal plans

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions never should have recused himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election — telling the New York Times that would have been a deal breaker in Sessions’ appointment.

Calling Sessions’ decision “very unfair to the president,” Trump said it led to the appointment of a special counsel.

“Sessions should have never recused himself and if he was going to recuse himself he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else,” the president told the New York Times.

The president also accused ousted FBI chief James Comey of trying to send a message when he told the incoming president about a dossier of compromising material assembled by a former British spy.

“In my opinion, he shared it so that I would think he had it out there,” Trump said, suggesting Comey was using it as leverage to keep his job.

“Yeah, I think so,’’ Mr. Trump said. “In retrospect.”

The interview touched on wide array of topics, the newspaper reported, including health care, foreign affairs and politics, but the Russia investigation dominated the discussison.

Trump was criticial of former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, now leading the probe as special counsel. And Trump again insisted he was not personally under investigation.

“I don’t think we’re under investigation,” he said. “I’m not under investigation. For what? I didn’t do anything wrong.”