Attorney General Jeff Sessions was interviewed for hours last week in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, the Justice Department confirmed Tuesday. He's the highest-ranking Trump administration official and first Cabinet member known to have submitted to questioning.

The interview came as Mueller investigates whether President Donald Trump's actions in office, including the firing of FBI Director James Comey, constitute efforts to obstruct the FBI probe into contacts between his 2016 campaign and Russia. Trump's own lawyers are discussing the prospect of an interview with the president himself, and White House officials state publicly that they anticipate a resolution soon to the investigation.

The questioning of the country's chief law enforcement officer is a reflection of investigators' continued interest in whether the president took steps to improperly obstruct justice. That question has been at the heart of the investigation for months as agents and prosecutors have questioned multiple current and former White House officials.

Sessions himself is seen as a potentially important witness given his direct involvement in the May 9 firing of Comey. The White House initially said the termination was done on the recommendation of the Justice Department and cited a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that faulted Comey for his handling of the Hillary Clinton email server investigation as justification.

But Trump said later that he was thinking of "this Russia thing" when he fired Comey, and he had decided to make the move even before the Justice Department's recommendations.

Sessions was one of Trump's earliest and most loyal allies, the first senator to endorse him during the presidential campaign. They shared an ambitious law-and-order agenda that focuses on hawkish immigration policies and tough-on-crime strategies that engendered affection from many conservatives.

He has continued to push Trump's agenda on everything from gangs and the opioid crisis to religious freedom, giving the president credit every step of the way.

But his decision to step aside from the Russia investigation has strained their bond, and the two men now rarely speak directly. Trump saw the recusal as weak and disloyal, believing his attorney general should be doing more to protect him

Over the past several months Mueller investigators have spoken with other key people close to the president, including White House Counsel Don McGahn, former chief of staff Reince Priebus and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Mueller has conveyed interest in speaking with the president, and White House attorney Ty Cobb said that is "under active discussion" with Trump's individual lawyers. He said last week on a CBS News' political podcast, "The Takeout," that he expected the investigation to be wrapped up within weeks.

Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation in early March after acknowledging that he had had two previously undisclosed encounters with the Russian ambassador during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. He said at the time that it would be improper for him to oversee a probe into a campaign for which he was a vocal and prominent supporter.

Since then, Trump has lashed out repeatedly on Twitter at Sessions and the Justice Department.

People familiar with the matter have told The Associated Press that McGahn had contacted Sessions to urge him to retain control of the investigation. McGahn was acting at the behest of the president, according to one of those people, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly by name.

Rosenstein appointed Mueller, a former FBI director, to take over the Russia investigation one week after Comey was fired. He oversees the work of Mueller's investigators, but he told the AP in an interview last June that he, too, would recuse himself if his actions ever became relevant to the probe.

Sessions' attorney, Chuck Cooper, declined to comment, as did the White House.

Four people have so far been charged in the Mueller investigation, including former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Flynn and George Papadopoulos, a former campaign foreign policy adviser, have pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

Sessions' interview with the Mueller team was first reported by The New York Times.

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1. FILE Various Sessions speaking at Department of Justice about DACA

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2. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"Jeff Sessions is the country's chief law enforcement officer. He is the first cabinet member who has been known to be interviewed by Special Counsel Mueller. He's the highest ranking Trump administration official who we know, and what it indicates is a continued interest by Mueller and his team in questions about whether the president committed obstruction of justice while in office."

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3. FILE Various Jeff Sessions being sworn in as attorney general by President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence

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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"What he actually most critically is involved in was the firing of FBI Director Jim Comey back in May, and that is one of the critical episodes of the Trump presidency that's been under investigation by Bob Mueller. And it's part of a series of questions as to whether the president took actions while in office to stymie the FBI investigation into contacts between his campaign and Russia. And you'll remember that Jeff Sessions was very important to that because he is somebody who endorsed the firing of Director Comey."

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5. FILE Jeff Sessions being sworn in as attorney general by President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence

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6. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"We know that the special counsel's office has interviewed multiple current and former White House officials including the president's own son in law Jared Kushner, White House counsel Don McGahn and the former chief of staff Reince Priebus. We also know that special counsel Mueller has expressed interest in a potential interview down the road with the president."

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7. FILE Newly appointed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions arriving at the Department of Justice and shaking hands with staff

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8. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"White House lawyer Ty Cobb has been on record as saying he anticipates the investigation will resolve soon. He's put a time frame of four to six weeks. We're not sure if that's actually going to happen. It's sort of hard to predict for anyone when these investigations will end."

A lawyer for President Donald Trump says he has no reason to believe the president is under federal investigation amid a media report that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is using a grand jury as part of his probe.

Attorney John Dowd said in a statement to The Associated Press that he had no information suggesting that the president himself is under investigation.

President Trump and members of his staff and family left Washington late Thursday afternoon to head to an event in Huntington, West Virginia.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Mueller was using a grand jury in Washington.

A grand jury is a common vehicle for government investigators to subpoena witnesses and records, though it doesn't suggest any charges are near.

A grand jury in Virginia has been used to gather information on Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser.

Ty Cobb, special counsel to the president, also says he had no knowledge of a grand jury.

He says such matters are typically secret, and the White House "favours anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work fairly."

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12. STILL Robert Mueller taking oath, being sworn in as FBI director

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13. STILL Robert Mueller speaking at podium in front of FBI seal with Attorney General John Ashcroft (right)

A lawyer for President Donald Trump says he has no reason to believe the president is under federal investigation amid a media report that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is using a grand jury as part of his probe.

Attorney John Dowd said in a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday that he had no information suggesting that the president himself is under investigation.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Mueller was using a grand jury in Washington.

A grand jury is a common vehicle for government investigators to subpoena witnesses and records, though it doesn't suggest any charges are near.

A grand jury in Virginia has been used to gather information on Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser.

Ty Cobb, special counsel to the president, also says he had no knowledge of a grand jury.

He says such matters are typically secret, and the White House "favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work fairly."

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1. Various, President Donald Trump walking toward Marine One ignoring reporter questions about Mueller and holding news conferences

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3. Various, Trump getting on Air Force One

4. Mid Eric Trump, Lara Yunaska Trump and Jared Kushner walking up Air Force One steps

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7. Various of then FBI Director Robert Mueller

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9. STILL Robert Mueller taking oath, being sworn in as FBI director

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10. STILL Robert Mueller speaking at podium in front of FBI seal with Attorney General John Ashcroft (right)

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued pardons and sentence commutations for 29 people, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, in the latest burst of clemency in his final weeks at the White House.

The actions bring to nearly 50 the number of people whom Trump in the last two days has granted clemency either by pardoning them or by commuting their sentences.

The pardons of Manafort and ally Roger Stone, who months earlier had his sentence commuted by Trump, underscore the president's determination to use the power of his office he final weeks to unravel the results of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and to come to the aid of associates he feels were wrongly pursued.

Trump has now pardoned four people convicted in that investigation, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

Manafort had been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for financial crimes related to his work in Ukraine and was among the first people charged as part of Mueller's investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

He was released to home confinement last May because of coronavirus concerns in the federal prison system.

Manafort, in a tweet, thanked Trump and lavished praise on the outgoing president, declaring that history would show he had accomplished more than any of his predecessors.

Kushner is the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and a wealthy real estate executive who pleaded guilty years ago to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations.

Trump and the elder Kushner knew each other from real estate circles and their children were married in 2009.

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1. Former campaign chairman for U.S. President Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, getting out of car and walking into U.S. District courthouse

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5. STILL of Charles Kushner (left), father of Trump's son-in-law, walking to U.S. District Courthouse with his lawyers Benjamin Brafman (right) and Alfred C. DeCotiis (center)

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7. Trump ally Roger Stone arriving at U.S. District Court for sentencing hearing

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