Sessions Will Recuse Himself in Wire Act Discussions

This week a spokeswoman for US Attorney General Jeff Sessions revealed that he will be recusing himself from any discussions related to the classification of The Wire Act, a posititve step for those looking to see states continuing offering online betting within their borders.

The announcement was made by a spokeswoman, who said that Sessions will be taking himself out of any matters related to the issue. Sessions had previously indicated that he wanted to re-examine the decision to classify the Wire Act of 1961 as being only related to sportsbetting. Sessions called the decision "shocking" when it was made by Holder in 2011. That designation essentially opened the doors to states to offer regulated online betting within their borders, a move that has been undertaken by Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware. A number of other large states are also pushing bills that would regulate the activity.

Sessions' decision to recuse himself is being made due to a potential conflict of interest. He has hired attorney Charles Cooper to represent him in investigations related to Russian shenanigans during the 2016 Presidential Election. Cooper was previously working for anti-online gambling advocate Sheldon Adelson, who pushed hard to get RAWA passed into law.

Now that Sessions is out, Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein will take over looking into the Wire Act, and whether or not it also applies to online betting. The attorney has a history with online betting, as he is the one who seized numerous web domains and bank accounts related to the Black Friday online poker cases. He also has pushed for the prosecution of Bodog founder Calvin Ayre, who is still on the lamb from the government.

Casino Listings will be updating this story as it develops further.