President Trump took to Twitter again in the last few days but this time his target was one of his earliest allies. In a series of tweets, President Trump questioned Attorney Jeff Sessions and his decision to recuse himself from the investigation into possible Russian interference in our nation’s election process.
Staunch allies of the president have been placed at odds with Trump and each other over both Session’s decision to remove himself from the investigation and the President’s blistering words for a conservative icon.
Matters were made more complicated when President Trump doubled down on Sessions in a follow-up tweet in which he questioned why the attorney general wasn’t investigating Trump’s 2016 Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton.
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) and Intel leakers!” he tweeted.
The president raised the same question in an interview with reporters last weekend. He told reporters then that he had second thoughts about nominating Sessions due to the former Alabama senator recusing himself from the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
When asked about the troubles between the President and Attorney General Sessions, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Trump just wants the Attorney General to do his job.
“The president’s been very clear about where he is. He’s obviously disappointed but also wants the attorney general to continue to focus on the things that the attorney general does,” said Huckabee. “He wants him to lead the Department of Justice. He wants [him] to do that strongly. He wants him to focus on things like immigration, leaks, and a number of other issues and I think that’s what his focus is at this point.”
Now The Washington Post is reporting that President Trump is weighing possible replacements for Sessions. That possibility is not sitting well with Republican Senators and even more than a few Democrats.
“It would not be well received on Capitol Hill,” warned Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama saying Sessions had been loyal to the president “to a fault.”
“Most people in the U.S. Senate and U.S. Congress believe Jeff Sessions is a man of integrity,” Shelby said on Fox News. Shelby said that Sessions firing “would not be taken lightly.”
Session who is usually affable and was one of the first to come out in support of Donald Trump’s campaign, responded to the president’s harsh words with his own on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
In a rare public appearance, A.G. Sessions said, “If you are going to disparage my good reputation, at least have the courtesy to do so in my face, at my enchanted tree!” To make matters more interesting, Rudy Giuliani made a surprise appearance on the same show. Giuliani has often been named as a possible replacement for Sessions.
Another name that is being floated should the President ask Session to step down is Senator Ted Cruz. Many pundits wonder what the relationship between the two might be considering the contentious nature of their interactions during the Republican primaries.
Should Cruz replace Sessions the balance of power in the Senate would shift precariously close to a stalemate. Republicans now control 52 of the Senate’s 100 seats have already proven unable or unwilling to press hard for the president’s agenda.
The attack on one of their own might color Trump’s relationship with Senate Republicans, said U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (Rep -OK), senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “I’m 100 percent for the president, but I really have a hard time with this,” he said.
Senator Orrin Hatch (Rep – UT) said, “That’s what he does, I don’t think he means harm with those tweets. He added “I’d prefer that he didn’t do that. We’d like Jeff to be treated fairly.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (Rep – NC), agreed. ”I guess we all have our communication style and that’s one that I would avoid,” Tillis believes the Russia investigation should proceed without interruptions saying, “The fewer distractions we have, the faster the investigation can proceed and the less confusion the electorate has to deal with.”
Tillis defended Sessions saying, the AG showed the independence he expected.
President Trump expressed regret for nominating Sessions last week saying that he would not have done so if he had he known that he was going to recuse himself. However this drama plays out it is essential Sessions is either affirmed by the president or replaced quickly.
~ American Liberty Report
