Trump ousts Sessions, installs loyalist at Justice Dept.
Acting AG takes control of Russia inquiry, putting Mueller’s future in doubt
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday, replacing him with a loyalist who has echoed the president’s complaints about the special counsel investigation into Russia’s election interference and will now take charge of the inquiry.
Sessions delivered his resignation letter to the White House at the request of the president, who tapped Matthew Whitaker, Sessions’ chief of staff, as acting attorney general, raising questions about the future of the inquiry led by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Whitaker, a former college football tight end and U.S. attorney in Iowa, and a onetime Senate candidate in that state, has previously questioned the scope of the investigation. In a column for CNN last year, he wrote that Mueller would be going too far if he examined the Trump family’s finances. “This would raise serious concerns that the special counsel’s investigation was a mere witch hunt,” Whitaker wrote, echoing the president’s derisive description of the investigation. Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump Organization for documents related to Russia.
Until now, Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, oversaw the investigation because Sessions recused himself in March
2017, citing his active role in Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Democrats quickly demanded on Wednesday that Whitaker also remove himself from taking charge of the inquiry, citing potential conflicts of interest, including his criticisms of the Mueller investigation, as well as his connections to a witness in that investigation, Sam Clovis, a former Trump campaign aide. In 2014, Whitaker was the chairman of Clovis’ unsuccessful campaign to become Iowa state treasurer.
“Given his previous comments advocating defunding and imposing limitations on the Mueller investigation, Whitaker should recuse himself from its oversight for the duration of his time as acting attorney general,” Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said in a statement.
Justice Department ethics advisers may be asked to weigh whether Whitaker should recuse himself. If he were to agree to do that, Rosenstein would continue to oversee the special counsel.
Whitaker had no immediate plans to publicly comment about Mueller or to take actions regarding the Russia inquiry, an administration official said.
“I am committed to leading a fair department with the highest ethical standards that upholds the rule of law and seeks justice for all Americans,” Whitaker said Wednesday in a statement in which he also called Sessions “a man of integrity.”
But as acting attorney general, Whitaker would be in a position to impede or undermine the investigation or to block Mueller from delivering a final report on whether Trump’s campaign advisers conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 campaign, and whether the president tried to cover it up.
Any such step could set off a dramatic clash with the new Democratic majority in the House. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who will become the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was one of several Democrats to promise investigations once the party takes control in January.
“The American people understand that no person is above the law and have demanded accountability from their government,” Nadler said. “The firing of Jeff Sessions will be investigated and people will be held accountable. This must begin immediately, and if not, then a Democratic Congress will make this a priority in January.”
Rep. Adam B. Schiff, DCalif., who could become the new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said that any interference with the Mueller investigation “would cause a constitutional crisis and undermine the rule of law.”
But Republicans in Congress appeared less concerned by the president’s move. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who said in 2017 that there would be “holy hell to pay” if Trump fired his attorney general, offered no criticism of the president Wednesday.
“I look forward to working with President Trump to find a confirmable, worthy successor so that we can start a new chapter at the Department of Justice,” Graham said. He had in recent months begun to ease off his stance of last year, saying in August that it had become clear that Sessions had lost the president’s confidence.
The abrupt ouster of Sessions resembled in some ways the decision by President George W. Bush to oust Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 2006 the day after a similar electoral defeat in midterm elections. In that case, Bush was attempting to mollify his critics. Trump’s decision to fire Sessions appeared likely to inflame his adversaries on Capitol Hill.
John F. Kelly, the White
House chief of staff, called Sessions before the president’s postelection news conference Wednesday to tell the attorney general that Trump wanted him to step down, the administration official said. Trump, who did not speak with Sessions himself, then ducked questions about Sessions’ fate at the news conference.
Sessions then had his letter, which was undated, delivered to the White House. “Dear Mr. President, at your request I am submitting my resignation,” he wrote. He added, “Most importantly, in my time as attorney general we have restored and upheld the rule of law,” and thanked the president.
Trump announced the resignation and Whitaker’s assignment on Twitter. “We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well!” he wrote. “A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date.”
Though Trump has said for months that he wished to replace Sessions, lawmakers and administration officials believed that firing the attorney general before the midterm elections would have had negative consequences for Republicans in tight races. So it came as little surprise when Sessions was asked to resign the day after the midterms were over.
The president’s decision ended a partnership that soured almost from the start of the administration and degenerated into one of the most acrimonious public standoffs between a commander in chief and a senior Cabinet member in modern American history.
Only weeks after he was confirmed as the United States’ top law enforcement officer, Sessions recused himself from overseeing the Justice Department investigation in March 2017, after revelations that he had failed to report encounters with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak of Russia during the 2016 campaign.