Reports: Sessions offered to quit, Trump refused

Attorney General Jeff Sessions offered to resign at one point in recent months after his relationship with President Donald Trump grew increasingly tense, according to two people close to the White House.

The strain between the two began after Sessions recused himself in March from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Sessions announced his recusal shortly after he became attorney general and a day after it was reported he had twice met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign and did not disclose that fact to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his January confirmation hearing.

Trump learned of the attorney general’s decision shortly before Sessions announced it at a news conference. The president’s anger has lingered for months, according to the people close to the White House, who said Trump blames Sessions’ recusal, in part, for the decision last month by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint a special counsel, Robert Mueller, to oversee the expanding Russia investigation.

It is unclear when Sessions offered to resign, and Trump refused the offer. The moment was brief, and Sessions made the suggestion after weeks of Trump’s disgruntlement and tense private meetings, according to the two people close to the White House, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. Trump made clear to Sessions that while he did not like Sessions’ decision to recuse himself, the people said, he still had faith in his attorney general.

Sessions’ offer to resign was first reported by ABC News. Justice Department spokesman Sarah Isgur Flores, who was with Sessions on Tuesday in Atlanta, declined to comment.

Before Sessions’ recusal from the Russia investigation, he and Trump had a strong bond. Sessions was the first senator to endorse Trump early in the presidential campaign last year when few Republican lawmakers supported the candidate.

Trump and Sessions share a similar worldview on key issues, including crime and immigration. In the Senate, Sessions pushed for a hardline stance on immigration and continues to speak out about arresting and prosecuting illegal migrants.

Trump spoke of rising crime in his inaugural address and vowed to end the “American carnage.” Sessions has made a tough crackdown on crime his top priority, reversing the charging policy under former President Barack Obama and directing his federal prosecutors to pursue the most severe penalties possible, including mandatory minimum sentences, in a step toward a return to the war on drugs of the 1980s and 1990s.