Will President Trump Fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions?
President Donald Trump had made it very clear he was not happy that Attorney Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe. From the very beginning, Sessions was one of Trump’s biggest supporters, and it obviously helped secure the job for the senator.
A recusal, to disqualify oneself as a judge in a particular case, is necessary when a “judge” has a conflict of interest in the case, which Sessions undoubtedly had.
On March 2, Sessions recused himself, against the president’s wishes, due to the fact that he spoke with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. It’s not the conversation that was necessarily bad, but the idea that it wasn’t disclosed had the media in a frenzy because it was felt something was hidden. Under lots of pressure, Sessions decided to do what he felt was a noble move and recused himself from the investigation.
Fast forward to this week and it comes out that President Trump would have found another attorney general had the president known this recusal were to happen.
“How do you take a job and then recuse yourself?” Trump asked. “If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, ‘Thanks, Jeff, but I’m not going to take you.'”
The president is obviously frustrated because the top man now has no access to anything going on in this never-ending saga of the Russia investigation.
However, for the time being, Sessions will continue to stay on the job as he stated at a press conference about cyber crime.
“We in this Department of Justice will continue every single day to work hard to serve the national interest, and we wholeheartedly join in priorities of President Trump,” Sessions responded. “I have the honor of serving as attorney general. It’s something that goes beyond any thought that I’ve ever had for myself.”
Sessions says he’ll stay on the job as long as ‘appropriate,’ after Trump slam https://t.co/dKQlPNN6BQ via @brookefoxnews @foxnewspolitics pic.twitter.com/Srds8C5s6T
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 20, 2017
It is duly noted the Sessions was widely praised by members on both sides of the aisle for recusal, almost as if it was a no-brainer. To meddle in the affairs of the investigation that surrounds in-part Sessions is inappropriate and goes against the way this country governs.
Regardless of one’s political views, it is not good to see the president and the attorney general at odds just six months into the administration. These two men need to get along in order for the country to function to its fullest.
To be clear, during Senator Sessions’ testimony at his confirmation hearing, the former Senator from Alabama either lied under oath or had a mental lapse when he failed to mention his two meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak. President Trump did not like that, of course.
“He gave some answers that were simple questions and should have been simple answers, but they weren’t.”
Will Jeff Sessions resign after the president’s sharp criticism of him?
Not at the moment, no.
This story has clearly just begun. and the public will have to wait and see if President Trump uses that quick trigger of his to either fire or discipline the attorney general. However, in doing so, it will just be another distraction to this administration that has been filled with turmoil in such a short amount of time.
[Featured Image by Evan Vucci/AP Images]
