President Donald Trump and Attorney General Sessions are reported to be engaged in the process of choosing both an interim FBI director (who can serve for a period of 300 days) and a new permanent FBI director (who is named for a 10-year term). This process constitutes a conflict of interest and violates Attorney General Sessions’ pledge to completely recuse himself from the ongoing investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential collusion between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.
The conflict can be resolved in one of two ways: (1) President Trump and Attorney General Sessions can recuse themselves from the process of selecting both the interim and the permanent FBI director; or, more realistically, (2) the DOJ can name a special prosecutor with complete independence from the FBI and the DOJ, with independent staffing and support.
The conflict that exists, of course, is that Trump and Sessions were a part of the Trump campaign and are potential targets of the investigation personally, and have vested interests in the result of this investigation.
The ongoing investigation of the Russian interference in the 2016 election and the potential collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government creates a clear conflict of interest for Trump and Sessions. Their involvement in the FBI director selection process is tainted by this conflict absent the naming of a special prosecutor for that investigation.