Mueller interviewed Jeff Sessions, making him the first Trump cabinet member to be questioned in the Russia probe

Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivers remarks on the U.S. system for asylum-seekers at the Executive Office for Immigration Review in Falls Church, Virginia, U.S. October 12, 2017.

• Attorney General Jeff Sessions was questioned by special counsel Robert Mueller's office for several hours last week, according to The New York Times.
• This makes Sessions the first sitting cabinet member in President Donald Trump's administration to be interviewed in Mueller's Russia probe.
• Sessions is a key figure due to his contacts with a Russian ambassador during the campaign, his role in the firing of former FBI director James Comey, and his presence at the meeting at which a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser pitched a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller's team as part of the ongoing probe into Russian election interference and potential obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump, according to The New York Times.

A Justice Department spokeswoman confirmed to The Times that Sessions sat down with members of the special counsel's office last week for several hours with Washington lawyer Chuck Cooper by his side. This makes Sessions the first sitting cabinet official in Trump's administration to be interviewed in Mueller's probe.

Sessions had previously recused himself in March 2017 from taking part in any investigations related to Russian interference in the 2016 election due to previously undisclosed conversations he had with then-Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak during the campaign. Trump was reportedly furious when he learned of Sessions' recusal.

Sessions was also involved in the firing of former FBI director James Comey in May 2017. Mueller is reportedly investigating whether the firing, as well as actions taken by the executive branch leading up to it, constitute an obstruction of justice. Sessions was in the room when former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos pitched a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. While he has maintained that he did not remember the meeting, he has stated that he was sure he must have rejected it.

Mueller's team has also called former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon to testify before a grand jury, but has since walked back this idea. Instead, the team is likely to interview Bannon sometime next week, with only a few investigators in attendance.