Sessions forced out by Trump

Sets up likely clash over Russia probe

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced to resign Wednesday, ending a tortured relationship with President Donald Trump and opening what could be a historic fight over the sprawling criminal investigation that has clouded Trump’s White House tenure.

The president had publicly mocked and belittled the nation’s top lawman ever since Sessions recused himself last year from supervising the investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential race. But Trump waited until after Tuesday’s midterm election to force Sessions out – and to choose a critic of the probe as his temporary replacement.

In a tweet, the president named Matthew Whitaker, Sessions’ Attorney General Jeff Sessions gathers his thoughts as he takes the podium for his press conference on efforts to combat violent crime at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia on Aug. 9, in Macon, Ga.

Sutter County supervisors decided against taking the advice of an arbiter and will not reinstate a district attorney’s office employee. That decision came Tuesday after several other DA employees spoke out against him.

Sutter County deputy district attorneys asked the Board of Supervisors to not reinstate their former coworker. Cameron King said former chief investigator Jason Parker’s credibility would threaten prosecutor’s chances of winning cases; Mark Koo said Parker is toxic to office morale; Monica Duwe said he is dodging subpoenas on cases he helped investigate.

Parker was fired Jan. 26 after being placed on administrative leave in summer 2017 for “unsatisfactory performance, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public or other employees