Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a lengthy critique of former FBI Director James Comey Tuesday and laid out his case for why he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein advocated for removing Comey from his post.

"When Mr. Comey denied the (Hillary) Clinton prosecution, that was really a usurpation of the authority of the federal prosecutors and the Department of Justice. It was a stunning development. The FBI is the investigative team. They don't decide prosecution policies. That was a thunderous thing," Sessions said during testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

"He also commented at some length on the declination of the Clinton prosecution, which you shouldn't do. Policies have been historic and if you decline, you decline, and you don't talk about it," the attorney general said.

Sessions appeared before the committee to discuss his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and respond to Comey's own testimony before the intelligence panel last week.

Both Sessions and Rosenstein, in documents made public by the White House, said they believed Trump should fire Comey.

"There were other things that had happened that indicated to me a lack of discipline and it caused controversy on both sides of the aisle, and I had come to the conclusion that a fresh start was appropriate and did not mind putting that in writing," Sessions said.

Trump fired Comey last month, and the Justice Department appointed a special counsel to oversee the probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.

Sessions decided to recuse himself from the investigation, but some Democrats said his recusal should've prevented him from recommending to Trump that he fire Comey.

However, the attorney general said it was "absurd" to suggest his recusal from the Russia probe would "render an attorney general unable to manage the leadership" of the Justice Department.