President Trump criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions harshly today on Twitter, attacking him for not investigating Mr. Trump’s political enemies and for what the President calls a double standard in the prosecution of corruption.
“’Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.’ Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the ‘other side’ including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr……
“….FISA abuse, Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier, the Clinton Foundation, illegal surveillance of Trump Campaign, Russian collusion by Dems – and so much more. Open up the papers & documents without redaction? Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!
“Ex-NSA contractor to spend 63 months in jail over ‘classified’ information. Gee, this is ‘small potatoes’ compared to what Hillary Clinton did! So unfair Jeff, Double Standard,” the President wrote in a series of tweets.
The criticism came in response to a statement from Sessions in which he pushed back on the President for questioning his integrity. Specifically President Trump has taken issue with Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation. President Trump is a subject of that investigation.
“I put in an attorney general that never took control of the justice department. Jeff Sessions never took control of the justice department and it’s a sort of an incredible thing,” President Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
“Even my enemies say that Jeff Sessions should have told you that he was going to recuse himself, and then you wouldn’t have put him in. He took the job and then he said I’m going to recuse myself. I said: ‘What kind of a man is this?’”
“I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in,” Sessions fired back in a statement, although that statement was not addressed to the President directly.
“While I am attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations,” Sessions’ statement continued.
Republicans in the U.S. Senate have previously warned Mr. Trump about firing Sessions. Many are now resigned to the fact that a change may be imminent.
“The President’s entitled to having an attorney general he has faith in, somebody that is qualified for the job and I think there will come a time sooner rather than later where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department of Justice. Clearly, Attorney General Sessions doesn’t have the confidence of the President,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said to reporters on Capitol Hill this week.
“That’s an important office in the country and after the election, I think there will be some serious discussions about a new Attorney General,” he continued.
The remarks are notable because Graham is both an ally to President Trump and a staunch Sessions supporter. He warned the President just last month there would “be holy hell to pay” if Sessions were fired.
The Russia investigation, being led by special counsel Robert Mueller has been going on for more than a year. Big news was made this week in the investigation with the conviction on several felony counts of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, as well as a plea deal with longtime Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen, who is now cooperating with authorities.
Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr