Mary McCord, are you there?

Yes, I am.

Before Robert Mueller was put in charge of the Department of Justice's Russia investigation,

the person leading the probe was this woman, Mary McCord.

How did you get the news about Sessions yesterday?

I got an alert on my phone from either way.

Mary left the DOJ last year.

She teaches at Georgetown law.

When Attorney General Jeff Sessions got fired yesterday, so many commentators began speculating

about the future of the work her office started. So I called Mary up. How do you see it as a firing,

as a resignation? Well, you know, I think it's clear from the way Sessions wrote his letter that it was at the president's request.

Sessions didn't have to capitulate, and he did.

And since he did capitulate, I would still call that a resignation.

Mary still has a lot of questions about the man taking over the department, a guy named Matthew Whitaker,

especially after reports today that Whitaker has no intention of following Sessions lead

and recusing himself from the Russia investigation.

I do think in that regard that it's incumbent upon him to consult with ethics experts

because just by what's out there publicly known,

things that Mr. Whitaker, who I do not know, I've never met, I've never worked with him,

there's enough out there that he has said criticizing the investigation that I think would cause

most people in his position to say, either on their own, I need to recuse

myself because of the appearance of impartiality, or I need to at least consult with ethics

...