JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired back at President Donald Trump Thursday [8-23-18] afternoon, after Trump said he ‘never took control’ of the Justice Department. ‘While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action. However, no nation has a more talented, more dedicated group of law enforcement investigators and prosecutors than the United States,’ Sessions said in a statement…Trump has frequently criticized Sessions since taking office and often expresses frustration over the attorney general’s decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. The assertion from the attorney general that he has in fact taken control of the Justice Department comes after the President lashed out at Sessions in an interview that aired on Fox News Thursday morning. After months of attacks, Sessions spoke up on Thursday in part because the President said on Fox News that he “never took control of the Justice Department” — a ‘macro’ criticism that struck a different tone than Trump’s more granular gripes on Twitter about different individual cases like former FBI employees Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, according to a source familiar with the attorney general’s thinking.”
–Laura Jarrett, Clare Foran and Kate Sullivan, “Sessions hits back at Trump: DOJ won’t be ‘improperly influenced’,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 23, 2018 2:34 pm