Attorney General Jeff Sessions told lawmakers Thursday he will not be naming a second special counsel at this time, explaining in a letter that a federal prosecutor is reviewing allegations of misconduct at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice.

“I write in response to recent letters requesting the appointment of a Special Counsel to review certain prosecutorial and investigative determinations made by the Department of Justice in 2016 and 2017. I take the concerns you raise seriously,” Sessions wrote in a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy. 

But, he said, a second special counsel is named only in “the most ‘extraordinary circumstances.’ “

“To justify such an appointment, the Attorney General would need to conclude that ‘the public interest would be served by removing a large degree of responsibility for the matter from the Department of Justice,’ ” Sessions added.