8/23/2018

JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday [8-23-18] took the unusual step of publicly pushing back against Donald Trump after the president freshly ripped into his top law enforcement official for recusing himself from the Russia probe. The rare statement from Sessions also came after two prominent senators expressed acceptance to the idea that Trump may oust his attorney general, despite the furor that such a move would inevitably unleash. In a statement posted on Twitter by DOJ spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores, Sessions said that ‘the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations,’ and that the department had, under him, ‘unprecedented success at effectuating the president’s agenda, one that protects the safety and security and rights of the American people, reduces crime and enforces our immigration laws, promotes economic growth, and advances liberty.’ Trump has regularly bashed Sessions after he recused himself from overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, which is now supervised by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and has proven a major legal headache for the White House.”

Caitlin Oprysko and Rebecca Morin, “Sessions offers rare public smack at Trump,” Politico, August 23, 2018 3:32 pm