AG Sessions ‘in control,’ fires back at president

WASHINGTON – In the face of new and threatening criticism from President Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired back Thursday, declaring he was in “control” of the Justice Department.

“I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the president’s agenda – one that protects the safety and security and rights of the American people, reduces violent crime, enforces our immigration laws, promotes economic growth, and advances religious liberty,” Sessions said in a statement.

Sessions went on to defend the department that Trump has subjected to months of withering attacks. Those assaults only escalated this week with the conviction of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and guilty pleas entered by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen.

“While I am attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations,” Sessions said. “I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action. However, no nation has a more talented, more dedicated group of law enforcement investigators and prosecutors than the United States.

“I am proud to serve with them and proud of the work we have done in successfully advancing the rule of law.”

Sessions’ statement came just hours after Trump offered a blistering critique of Sessions during an interview on “Fox & Friends.”

Asked whether he intended to fire Sessions or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after the midterms, Trump didn’t dismiss the idea.

“If you look at Hillary Clinton’s person, you take a look at the people that work for Hillary Clinton, and look at the crimes that Clinton did with the emails, and she deletes 33,000 emails after she gets a subpoena from Congress, and this Justice Department does nothing about it and all of the other crimes that they’ve done,” he said.

The president went into detail about his frustrations with Sessions and his decision to recuse himself from heading the special counsel’s investigation, which in turn put Rosenstein in charge of the inquiry.

Sessions “took the job, then he said, ‘I’m going to recuse myself,’ ” Trump said. “I said, ‘What kind of a man is this?’ ”

He said the only reason Sessions was given a job was because of his loyalty to the campaign.