Jeff Sessions’ fate hangs in balance
washington — US Attorney General Jeff Sessions found himself in an increasingly untenable position on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump once again skewered him on Twitter, calling his onetime ally “VERY weak.”
Sessions was one of Trump’s earliest and most loyal supporters, but the Republican billionaire has turned on him publicly in the past week, as rumours fly that the former senator from Alabama will be replaced.
Trump has openly criticised Sessions for recusing himself from overseeing a federal probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to meddle in the 2016 US presidential elections. —
washington — President Donald Trump has spoken with advisers about firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, officials say, and launched a fresh Twitter tirade on Tuesday against the man who was the first US senator to endorse his candidacy.
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!” Trump tweeted.
The president’s anger over Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the government’s investigation of Russian meddling in the US election had burst into public view on Monday when he referred to Sessions in a tweet as ‘beleaguered.’ Privately, Trump has speculated aloud to allies in recent days about the potential consequences of firing Sessions, according to three people who have recently spoken to the president. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Trump earlier this month assailed Sessions in a New York Times interview for taking himself out of the Russia probe, saying that if he’d known Sessions would choose that course he wouldn’t have installed him at the Justice Department.
Trump often talks about making Jeff sessions has taken a VeRy weak position on Clinton crimes Donald Trump staff changes without following through, so those who have spoken with the president cautioned that a change may not be imminent or happen at all.
“So why aren’t the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?” the president tweeted on Monday. His tweet came just hours before his son-in-law, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, travelled to Capitol Hill to be interviewed about his meetings with Russians. I’m totally confident that we can continue to run this office in an effective way Jeff Sessions,
Attorney General
Trump’s rapid-fire tweeting resumed at daybreak on Tuesday, with the president wondering aloud about Sessions’ “VERY weak” position on “Hillary Clinton crimes.”
In another post to his Twitter account, Trump said: “Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump campaign — quietly working to boost Clinton. So where is the investigation A.G.”
Trump’s intensifying criticism of Sessions has fuelled speculation that Sessions may resign even if Trump opts not to fire him. During an event at the White House, Trump ignored a shouted question about whether Sessions should step down. The attorney general said last week he intended to stay in his post.
If Trump were to fire Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would be elevated to the top post on an acting basis. That would leave the president with another attorney general of whom he has been sharply critical in both public and private for his handling of the Russia probe, according to four White House and outside advisers who, like others interviewed, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
It could also raise the specter of Trump asking Rosenstein — or whomever he appoints to fill the position — to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and potential collusion with Trump’s campaign.
The name of one longtime Trump ally, Rudy Giuliani, was floated as a possible replacement for Sessions, but a person who recently spoke to the former New York City mayor said that Giuliani had not been approached about the position. Giuliani told CNN on Monday that he did not want the post and would have recused himself had he been in Sessions’ position. —
I think that’s a decision that if the president wants to make, he certainly will and he’s continuing to move forward and focus on other things. But that frustration certainly hasn’t gone away. and I don’t think it will. Sarah Huckabee Sanders White House press secretary
anybody who is good at team building would suggest to the president that attacking members of your team rattles the whole team. Newt Gingrich, a frequent Trump adviser