Trump team weighs ouster of Sessions
President would then move to fire special counsel.
The president, still incensed over his Russia case recusal, considers firing him, and then moving to dismiss special counsel Mueller.
President Donald Trump and his advisers are privately discussing the possibility of replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and some confidants are floating pros- pects who could take his place were he to resign or be fired, according to people familiar with the talks.
Members of Trump’s circle, including White House officials, have increasingly raised the question among themselves in recent days as the president has con
tinued to vent his frustra- tion with the attorney general, the people said.
Replacing Sessions is seen by some Trump associates as potentially being part of a strategy to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller and end his investigation into whether the Trump campaign coor- dinated with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 elec- tion, according to the peo- ple, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The president took another swipe at Sessions on Monday, calling his attorney general “our beleaguered A.G.” and asking why Sessions was not “looking into Crooked Hillary’s crimes & Russia relations?”
Both points are notable. Sessions was once consid- ered one of Trump’s closest advisers and enjoyed access few others had. Now he is left to endure regular pub- lic criticism by his boss.
Trump’s suggestion, too, that his top law enforcem ent official investigate a former political rival is astounding, and even his allies have said in the past that such a move would be unheard of in the United States. Trump, after the elec- tion, had backed away from the idea of possibly prosecuting Hillary Clinton.
Sessions has seen his tight relationship with Trump and the White House unravel since he recused himself in March from the Russia probe. The president had privately complained about that decision for weeks, and in an interview with the New York Times last week he said he would not have appointed Sessions as attorney general had he known in advance of the recusal.
After Sessions recused himself, he passed on the responsibility to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who then appointed Mueller as special counsel overseeing the Russia probe.
Trump could order Rosen- stein — and then Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand — to fire Mueller. If they quit instead of doing so, he could appoint an acting attorney general who would. Trump could also appoint an acting attorney general with them in place — effectively passing over Rosenstein and Brand — and order that person to remove the special counsel.
Trump’s authority to jump Rosenstein and Brand, though, is murky. The Jus- tice Department has issued opinions in the past saying both that such a move is and isn’t permissible. And his pick for an acting attorney general would have to have Senate confirmation and be serving elsewhere in the government or have worked in the Justice Department for 90 days within the past 365 and be at a certain senior pay level.
Another scenario is that Trump could make a recess appointment, said University of Texas School of Law professor Steve Vladeck. Under that plan, Trump could choose an attorney general during the August recess who would serve until the end of the next Senate session, which could be early January. That person would have the same authority as someone who is confirmed by the Senate, Vladeck said.
Among the names being floated as possible Sessions replacements are Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, according to people familiar with the conversations.
Giuliani dismissed a report floating his name as a possible attorney general and told CNN that Sessions “made the right decision under the rules of the Justice Department” to recuse himself..
Cruz had said previously that he “did not think it was necessary to appoint a special counsel,” but when Mueller was appointed, he praised him as “an excellent choice.”
Some Trump advisers said that this process could be agonizing for the attorney general, with the president’s anger flaring but no decision being reached for weeks or maybe months, leaving Sessions isolated from the White House.