WASHINGTON _ In a concession to conservatives clamoring for new investigations into Hillary Clinton's emails and the Justice Department's actions in the Russia investigation, Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday named a federal prosecutor from Utah to head the new review.
But he once again stopped short of naming a second special counsel, a move that many Republicans have been demanding for months. The latest move is unlikely to quiet the rising tide of anger on the right, a campaign fueled by the bitter Twitter messages of President Donald Trump.
In a letter to the leaders of House and Senate committees, Sessions said he had named John W. Huber, the U.S. attorney for Utah, to lead the inquiry of the department's handling of the probe into Clinton and the secret surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide.
Huber, a veteran prosecutor who once headed the national security section for the Justice Department, has been working on the case since November. Sessions said Huber would recommend whether to reopen or launch any new criminal investigations, and whether a second special counsel was warranted.
Sessions' letter was immediately criticized by Democrats as a political stunt meant to soothe Trump and to distract attention from the investigation into the Trump campaign's dealings with Russia led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
"He's throwing meat out there to appease the president," Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, told CNN.
