Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanAt indoor rally, Pence says election runs through Wisconsin Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates Peterson faces fight of his career in deep-red Minnesota district MORE (R-Wis.) said Thursday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTrump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status White House officials voted by show of hands on 2018 family separations: report MORE should recuse himself from any FBI investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia only if Sessions is “the subject” of that probe.

“Should he recuse himself? I think he answered that question this morning, which is if he himself is the subject of an investigation, of course he would,” Ryan told reporters. “But if he is not, I don’t see any purpose or reason for doing this.”

A handful of Republicans on Thursday called for Sessions to distance himself from any Justice Department probes after new reports that the then-senator had talked twice with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. during the 2016 campaign.

ADVERTISEMENT

That contradicted Sessions’s confirmation hearing testimony when he told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he had not had any contact with the Russians.

Asked whether he believed Sessions had misled the Senate panel, Ryan said he had not read the transcripts and referred reporters to the Judiciary Committee.

Tough questions about Sessions dominated Ryan’s weekly news conference. On several occasions, the Speaker pointed out that there is sufficient evidence Russia did try to meddle with the 2016 presidential election to aid Trump. But he clarified that there is no evidence that anyone on the Trump team was working with the Russian government to affect the outcome of the election.

“We have been presented with no evidence that an American was colluding with the Russians to meddle in the elections,” Ryan said.

It’s very common, Ryan said, for lawmakers to meet with foreign ambassadors during the course of their duties.

“We meet with ambassadors all the time. I did a reception about 100 yards that way with about 100 ambassadors. I don’t remember all the ones I met with,” he said. “It’s really common for members of Congress to meet with ambassadors. I met with the Indian ambassador yesterday.”