He’s berated him, he’s insulted him, and yesterday Trump finally fired Jeff Sessions, angry that he recused himself from Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Prez axes AG,AG leaving fate of Russia probe in limbo
Attorney General Jeff Sessions was finally thrown overboard by President Trump on Wednesday after months of acrimonious attacks by the commander-in-chief, who was furious that Sessions had recused himself from the Russia probe.
“Dear Mr. President, at your request I am submitting my resignation. In my time as attorney general, we have restored and upheld the rule of law,” Sessions, an immigration and law-enforcement hardliner, wrote in his undated letter.
Trump named an interim attorney general who has a history of publicly criticizing special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference and possible collusion with the Trump campaign — sparking fears in Congress that he might try to torpedo the investigation.
“We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States. He will serve our Country well,” the president tweeted before thanking the nation’s outgoing top law-enforcement officer.
“We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well! A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date.”
In his new role, Whitaker will now oversee Mueller’s investigation, superseding Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
In an August 2017 opinion piece on CNN.com, Whitaker said Mueller was “dangerously close” to crossing a “red line” in the investigation by looking at Trump’s personal finances and businesses.
“It does not take a lawyer or even a former federal prosecutor like myself to conclude that investigating Donald Trump’s finances or his family’s finances falls completely outside of the realm of his 2016 campaign and allegations that the campaign coordinated with the Russian government or anyone else,” Whitaker wrote, saying that Rosenstein could cut off funding for the Mueller probe.
And last year, Whitaker, appearing on CNN, said, “I could see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced with a recess appointment, and that attorney general doesn’t
fire Bob Mueller, but he just reduces his budget so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt.”
Democrats expressed immediate concern, and they weren’t alone.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) warned the president to not interfere with Mueller.
“It is imperative that the Administration not impede the Mueller investigation,” she tweeted. “I’m concerned Rod Rosenstein will no longer be overseeing the probe. Special Counsel Mueller must be allowed to complete his work without interference—regardless of who is AG.”
Trump said earlier Wednesday that he had no plans to can Mueller because of the potential political blowback.
“I could fire everybody right now, but I don’t want to stop it, because politically, I don’t like stopping it,” Trump said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, praised the outgoing AG.
“I thank Jeff Sessions for his dedicated service as Attorney General. Throughout his career, as a prosecutor, a Senator and as Attorney General, he remained steadfast in his commitment to the rule of law and his love of our great nation,” he said in a statement.
Sessions, one of Trump’s earliest campaign supporters, has been in the presidential dog house since March 2017, when he recused himself from Mueller’s investigation because he had not disclosed during his confirmation hearing that he had twice met with Moscow’s ambassador to the United States.
Sessions had offered to step down before, but his resignation was not accepted at the time
Trump has angrily berated the former Alabama senator both publicly and privately since then, saying that Sessions should have maintained oversight of the probe to protect the administration from Mueller.
The attacks escalated in recent months, with Trump complaining that Sessions “had never had control” of the Justice Department.
He also snidely accused him of not protecting GOP interests by allowing two congressmen to be indicted before the election, Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York, both of whom won Tuesday
It was another Election Day of horrors at polling places across the city, with thousands forced to wait in hours-long lines after ballot-scanning machines broke down. What will it take for the Board of Elections to get its job right?
On the page opposite, Mayor de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson offer their ideas. The central one makes sense: Create a nonpartisan, professional executive director to oversee operations.
Then they toss in a host of other ideas: early voting, vote-by-mail, same-day registration. It’s all worth discussing — separately.
Clearly, part of the problem comes from past reforms: The city’s old mechanical voting machines worked great; paper ballots and scanners, less so. And the now legally required ballots in multiple languages also add delay. It sure seems like same-day voter registration would just add to the chaos.
Early voting has its attractions, but also risks: Important news can break late in a cam- paign; early voters don’t get to react to it. Votes by mail still need to be scanned — which could also overwhelm the clerks.
In any case, the core issue is Board of Elections dysfunction. If the scanning machines are too old, why wasn’t the board’s chief, Michael Ryan, screaming about the problem before chaos hit? What’s the excuse for polling places that didn’t open on time?
Tuesday’s high turnout should have been no surprise, either: Competent managers would’ve been ready for it.
The Blas/CoJo wish list features a host of longtime progressive demands; the new, blue state Legislature likely will embrace it. Yet real reform would also include replacing the ridiculous petition system and the way special elections empower party bosses.
But none of these other issues should become a bait-and-switch: Lawmakers first need to give the public a competent Board of Elections. Then they can start reimagining how New York votes.