WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave a vote of confidence Friday to former FBI director Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading an investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, but he also said he hoped the probe could “move forward and come to an end sooner rather than later.”

The attorney general’s comments during a “Fox & Friends” interview were his most expansive to date on the Justice Department’s appointment last month of Mueller to run the investigation.

“Mr. Mueller is someone I’ve known for a long time, and I’ve had confidence in him over the years,” said Sessions, an Alabama Republican who served for years on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the congressional panel that oversees the FBI.

“I feel confident in what he’ll do, that’s all I can say to you about that,” Sessions said. “The man has a good reputation. He knows his business.”

Republicans have raised conflict-of-interest concerns by noting that some lawyers on Mueller’s investigative team have previously contributed to Democratic candidates.