Whitaker Exits Justice Department With Controversy Still Looming

(Bloomberg) -- Former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has left the Justice Department, agency spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said Monday.

Whitaker, whose last day was March 2, had been serving as a senior counselor since William Barr was confirmed last month as attorney general.

Trump installed Whitaker as acting attorney general in November, after forcing out Jeff Sessions. Although Whitaker’s tenure as acting attorney general was short, he has been embroiled in controversies that probably won’t end with his departure from the department, including his decision not to recuse himself from overseeing Special Counsel Robert Mueller despite past criticism of his Russia probe.

The House Judiciary Committee has requested that Whitaker return to clarify combative testimony that he gave on Feb. 8.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, ;Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert

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