Sessions in firing line
US ATTORNEY-GENERAL: DEFENDS HIMSELF AGAINST TRUMP CRITICISM
‘Department will not be influenced by political considerations.’
US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions fired back at President Donald Trump on Thursday after Trump gave a scathing assessment of his leadership at the justice department.
Sessions, a former US senator from Alabama, was one of the first Republican lawmakers to back Trump’s presidential election bid and has implemented his hardline immigration policies in the role of attorney-general.
But Trump has repeatedly criticised Sessions for recusing himself from overseeing a probe into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow. Trump denies any collusion and calls the investigation a “witch hunt.”
“I put in an attorney-general who never took control of the justice department,” Trump said in an interview on Thursday. “He took the job and then he said: ‘I’m going to recuse myself.’ ... I said, ‘What kind of a man is this?’” In a rebuttal to Trump, Sessions quickly moved to defend himself.
“I took control of the department of justice the day I was sworn in,” he said in a statement. “While I am attorney-general, the actions of the department of justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.”
The response sparked new speculation that Trump might fire Sessions, although some senior Republican lawmakers offered the attorney-general support.
“I know this is a difficult position for him to be in, but I think it would be bad for the country, it would be bad for the president... ,” said Senator John Cornyn.
The spat between Sessions and Trump came two days after Trump’s former election campaign manager Paul Manafort was convicted on tax and bank fraud charges, and his former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges. –