JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/OBAMA ADMIN/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Wednesday [2-21-18] renewed his public pressure on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, suggesting the Justice Department should be looking at the Obama administration as it probes possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia… Mr. Sessions, who advised Mr. Trump during the 2016 campaign, has repeatedly come under fire from the president after having recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation last year. That decision led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, after Mr. Trump fired James Comey as Federal Bureau of Investigation director last May. That special counsel’s probe, which is examining Russian interference in the 2016 election and any links to the Trump campaign, has ensnared several top Trump campaign associates…
It also wasn’t clear what Mr. Trump was suggesting the Obama administration didn’t do about Russian election meddling. Less than a month before he left office, then-President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia related to its work in 2016. The State Department expelled what it described as 35 intelligence operatives from the U.S., and the administration imposed asset freezes and travel bans on Russian officials. As that was happening, members of the incoming Trump administration were working to undermine the impact of those sanctions, according to court documents.”
-Julie Bykowicz and Peter Nicholas, “Trump Again Presses Jeff Sessions Over Russia Probe,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 21, 2018 10:14pm