Attorney General Sessions forced out
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned on Wednesday at President Donald Trump’s request, ending the tenure of a beleaguered loyalist whose relationship with the president was ruined when Sessions recused himself from control of the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
In a letter to Trump, Sessions wrote he had been “honored to serve as Attorney General” and had “worked to implement the law enforcement agenda based on the rule of law that formed a central part of your campaign for the presidency.” Trump tweeted that Sessions would be replaced on an acting basis by Matthew Whitaker, who had been serving as Sessions’ chief of staff.
“We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well!” Trump tweeted. “A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date.”
A Justice Department official said Whitaker would assume authority over the special counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election – though his role will be subject to the normal review process for conflicts. Because Sessions was recused, the special counsel probe had been overseen by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who also has had strained relations with Trump, but is considered safe in his position for the moment. Rosenstein went to the White House Wednesday afternoon for what an official said was a pre-scheduled meeting.
Though Sessions’ removal was long expected, the installation of Whitaker sparked fears that the president might be trying to exert control over the special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller.
A legal commentator before he came into the Justice Department, Whitaker had mused publicly about how a Sessions replacement might reduce Mueller’s budget “so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt.” He also wrote in a September 2017 column that Mueller had “come up to a red line in the Russia 2016 election-meddling investigation that he is dangerously close to crossing,” after CNN reported that the special counsel could be looking into Trump and his associates’ financial ties to Russia.
Democrats and others issued statements Wednesday urging that Mueller be left do to his work and vowing to investigate whether Sessions’s ouster was meant to interfere with the special counsel. Come January, Democrats will have subpoena power, having retaken the House in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
“Congress must now investigate the real reason for this termination, confirm that Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker is recused from all aspects of the Special Counsel’s probe, and ensure that the Department of Justice safeguards the integrity of the Mueller investigation,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement, “No one is above the law and any effort to interfere with the Special Counsel’s investigation would be a gross abuse of power by the President. While the President may have the authority to replace the Attorney General, this must not be the first step in an attempt to impede, obstruct or end the Mueller investigation.”
Senator-elect Mitt Romney, R-Utah, tweeted that it was “imperative” Mueller’s work be allowed to continue unimpeded.
A spokesman for the special counsel’s office declined to comment.
A person close to Sessions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be frank, said the attorney general shared the president’s frustration with the pace of the Russia inquiry, and wished that it had been completed. But Sessions also thought that by staying in the job, he had protected the investigation’s integrity, the person said. In the long run, Sessions is convinced that the country will be better served by the investigation proceeding naturally, as the findings will be more credible to the American public, the person said.
Justice Department officials had been bracing for Sessions’ ouster. He told confidants earlier this week that he expected Trump to fire him or push him out soon after the midterm elections, and friends urged himp to quit and consider running again for a Senate seat in Alabama. Still, some senior leaders at the Justice Department were shocked to hear the news Wednesday.
Sessions received a phone call Wednesday morning from White House Chief of Staffp John Kelly – before the president held a news conference to discuss the midterm election results – telling him the president wanted Sessions to resign, an administration official said.
Sessions sought to stay on the job at least until the end of the week, according to people familiar with the discussion. Kelly firmly rejected that suggestion, insisting Wednesday would be his last day, the people said. Sessions canceled meetings and scheduled one for later in the day, where he would say goodbye to his staff.
A White House official said Trump had been held at bay to demand Sessions’ resignation until after the election, but he talked eagerly about ousting his attorney general as soon as the votes were tallied. Even as election results were coming in, Trump complained about Sessions and said he hoped Republicans would win a large enough margin in Senate that he could fire the attorney general quickly, a person familiar with the matter said.
Another person said other Cabinet officials also were in jeopardy.
In a matter of hours, Sessions was out, and Whitaker was in. About 150 Justice Department employees gathered in the Justice Department courtyard Wednesday evening to bid farewell to the attorney general. The crowd clapped for him, and he waved goodbye and gave a thumbs-up before entering a black government SUV that drove him away. Sessions shook Whitaker’s hand before departing.
The White House official said the president liked Whitaker, who was a “backslapping, football kind of guy” who had briefed Trump on many occasions.
“The president never wanted to see Jeff. So a lot of other people at DOJ got to see the president,” the person said.
Whitaker, a former attorney who ran an unsuccessful campaign for a Senate seat in Iowa, played football at the University of Iowa. In 2014, he chaired the campaign of Sam Clovis, a Republican candidate for Iowa state treasurer. That might present another potential ethics complication for Whitaker’s supervision of the special counsel; Clovis went on to work as a Trump campaign adviser and has become a witness in Mueller’s investigation.
Justice Department officials said Whitaker will follow the regular process for reviewing possible ethical conflicts as he assumes the new job of the nation’s top law enforcement official. That process involves Justice Department ethics lawyers reviewing an official’s past work to see if there are any financial or personal conflicts that preclude them from being involved in specific cases.
The Justice Department advises employees that “generally, an employee should seek advice from an ethics official before participating in any matter in which her impartiality could be questioned.”