Attorney General Jeff Sessions insisted Thursday that he has no plans to resign, despite harsh criticism that President Donald Trump leveled at him during an extended interview with The New York Times on Wednesday.

Trump complained in the interview that Sessions was “very unfair” to him when he recused himself from involvement in the Justice Department’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

At a news conference previously scheduled to announce the Justice Department’s largest-ever takedown of a dark web operation, Sessions said he will continue in his job.

[lz_ndn video=32719005]

“I have the honor of serving as attorney general,” he said. “It’s something that goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself. We love this job. We love this department. And I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate.”

Sessions said he was carrying out the president’s mandates, including dismantling transnational criminal organizations.

“We’re serving right now. The work we’re doing today is the kind of work that we intend to continue,” he said. “Just last week, we announced the largest health care takedown ever in the United States. We had all the major law enforcement leaders in my office yesterday to talk about our unified efforts to improve our crime fighting with state and local officials. So I’m totally confident we can continue to run this office in an effective way.”

Sessions was, perhaps, Trump’s most important supporter during the campaign. He shared the stage with Trump during a large campaign rally in August 2015 in Sessions’ hometown of Mobile, Alabama. Later, he became the first senator to offer Trump his endorsement and lent him credibility.

But their relationship has been strained since Sessions took office. Due to his role as a campaign surrogate, Sessions recused himself from the Russia case. Most legal experts believe the recusal was correct and followed department protocol, but it irritated Trump, who had counted on a loyal ally to beat back what he considers baseless allegations that the campaign colluded with Russian agents.

Although Trump’s feelings on the matter have been known for some time, the sharpness of his comments to The Times surprised some observers.

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

“Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president,” he said. “How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, ‘Thanks, Jeff, but I’m not going to take you.’ It’s extremely unfair — and that’s a mild word — to the president.”

Trump also criticized Sessions for failing to disclose to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he had met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. That lapse added to the cloud swirling around the administration; Trump said his attorney general gave “some bad answers” to “simple questions.”

[lz_related_box id=”820341″]

In addition, the president ripped Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed special counsel Robert Muller to take charge of the investigation. The president told The Times that he was upset when he found out Rosenstein was from Baltimore, where there are “very few Republicans … if any.”

At the news conference Thursday, Rosenstein sidestepped questions about the comments.

“As the attorney general said, we are working every day to advance the priorities of the Department of Justice, the administration,” he said. “I was proud to be here yesterday. I am proud to be here today. I’ll be proud to work here tomorrow. We are spending every minute working to advance the interests of the department.”

(photo credit, homepage image: Gage Skidmore; photo credit, article image: Ryan J. Reilly)