White House: President has confidence in Sessions
Attorney general still on the job after president’s attacks
President Trump has no plans to fire Jeff Sessions, his spokesperson said Thursday, even after his extraordinary attacks cast doubt on the fate of the attorney general and Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the Russia investigation.
While Trump still disagrees with Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said, “clearly, he has confidence in him, or he would not be attorney general.”
Sessions said he plans to continue serving “as long as that is appropriate.” He told reporters Thursday: “We love this job. We love this department.” Trump told The New York
Times Wednesday that he would not have nominated him for attorney general had he known Sessions would recuse himself from the investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election. “He should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else,” Trump said.
The president’s comments about a sitting attorney general caught even senior aides by surprise, and forced some to scramble to explain them.
In the interview, Trump also criticized Mueller for having unspecified conflicts of interest. While Trump cannot technically fire the special counsel, Sanders said the president also “has no intention” to call for Mueller’s removal “at this time.”
As the White House insisted everything was copacetic, members of Congress and legal analysts saw it differently.
Trump “effectively asked Sessions for his resignation. Will he resign or insist on being fired?” tweeted Preet Bharara, the former New York-based U.S. attorney removed by the Trump administration.
Trump himself, meanwhile, declined to respond to reporters’ questions about Sessions after an event in which a group of CEOs announced plans to expand pharmaceutical glass manufacturing plants in the United States.
Sessions said in March he would remove himself from the investigation because he had meetings with Russians officials during the campaign period.
After Trump fired his FBI director, James Comey, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller to oversee the investigation into Russian efforts to interfere in last year’s election, and possible collusion between Trump associates and Russia.
Trump claimed Mueller’s office has its own conflicts of interest. He did not elaborate, though Trump and aides have questioned the fact that Mueller’s staff includes supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Trump also complained that Mueller interviewed for the job of FBI director and therefore should not have accepted the post of special counsel, and that he should not be investigating anything related to the president’s finances. “I have done nothing wrong,” Trump said. “A special counsel should never have been appointed in this case.”
Yet Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Trump is trying to intimidate law enforcement officers who are involved in an investigation of him.
Mueller, Schiff added, “has authority to investigate any ties Trump family has to Russia, including financial, and anything that arises. That is his duty.”
Over at the White House, Sanders repeated Trump’s longstanding claims that he has no financial dealings with Russia.
Still, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the president’s comments about the special counsel’s probe could amount to an obstruction of justice.
Trump “effectively asked Sessions for his resignation. Will he resign or insist on being fired?” Preet Bharara, former U.S. Attorney