Sessions answers back after Trump’s latest blast
WASHINGTON — Harshly criticized yet again by his boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions abandoned his usual stony silence on Wednesday and pushed back against President Donald Trump for saying Sessions’ response to Republican complaints about the FBI was “disgraceful.”
Sessions gave no suggestion he would step down in light of the charge made on Twitter and insisted he would “continue to discharge my duties with integrity and honor.”
Trump’s latest tirade stems from a comment Sessions made Tuesday, when he suggested the Justice Department’s inspector general will evaluate whether prosecutors and FBI agents wrongly obtained a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to monitor the communications of a onetime Trump campaign associate. Sessions had asked the watchdog office to review the complaints in response to pressure from congressional Republicans, who, like Trump, have fumed about what they believe to be bias within the FBI.
Trump tweeted: “Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!”
Sessions answered hours later, saying his department had taken the appropriate step and “will continue to do its work in a fair and impartial manner according to the law and Constitution.”
Also Wednesday, the Washington Post, citing people to whom Trump has spoken, said the president has complained about Sessions not defending him and not being loyal enough, sometimes calling Sessions “Mr. Magoo.”
“Mr. Magoo” was a 20th-century cartoon character, an old man who bumbles into comic situations because of his very poor eyesight.
It was hardly the first time the president has aired his gripes against Session over the Russia probe. The former Alabama senator, an early supporter of Trump’s candidacy, has endured a year’s worth of Trump’s wrath. But even for Trump, who once called the attorney general “beleaguered,” Wednesday’s volley elevated the rhetoric to a new level.
The exchange comes at a time of heightened tension between the Justice Department and the White House, which is mired in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible Trump campaign ties to Russia and possible obstruction of justice. Trump has long viewed Sessions’ decision to step aside from that investigation as leading to Mueller’s appointment.
Trump this time is angry that Sessions referred the allegations of employee misconduct to the inspector general, but that’s exactly what that office is charged with doing.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s office has acknowledged receiving Sessions’ request but hasn’t said it is investigating. Horowitz was appointed to the post by President Barack Obama, as Trump noted. But years earlier, Horowitz was named in the Bush administration to a seat on the Sentencing Commission, suggesting he has more bipartisan bona fides than Trump acknowledges.