2016 ELECTION/JEFF SESSIONS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions has become famous for his ability to weather blistering critiques from the White House like the one President Trump delivered Monday [4-9-18] when he told reporters he wished he had ‘a different attorney general.’ In response to repeated attacks from the president over his decision to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, Mr. Sessions has fallen into an uneasy pattern, enduring the humiliations with Job-like patience while responding with policies and pronouncements that seem meant to please his toughest critic. In the past month, Mr. Trump has publicly suggested putting drug dealers to death, said the government would ban so-called bump stocks and pushed for strict immigration controls. In response, Mr. Sessions issued a memo recommending use of the death penalty in drug cases whenever possible, reversed the department’s past decision on banning bump stocks and issued a memo outlining a ‘zero tolerance’ policy on illegal immigration.”
-Katie Benner, “Sessions Endures Repeated Attacks by Bending to the President’s Whims,” The New York Times online, April 9, 2018