JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/RELIGION/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Jerry Falwell Jr., a top conservative religious leader, said Monday [8-27-18] he urged President Donald Trump to fire Jeff Sessions over his handling of investigations into Russian election meddling, saying the attorney general has lost evangelicals’ support…Falwell said he has urged the president to fire Sessions and told POLITICO he planned to bring up the subject again Monday evening at a small gathering with Trump and the first lady. Later, Falwell and dozens of other faith leaders were to attend a formal White House dinner celebrating the evangelical community. In forsaking Sessions, faith leaders are turning on one of their own, a man who for decades fought in the political trenches for conservative Christian causes. As a senator from Alabama, Sessions was one of the first Republicans to endorse Trump’s long-shot presidential campaign, taking heat from his party in return. But he has angered Trump loyalists more recently because the Justice Department has not declassified all materials sought by Republicans in regard to the Russia investigation. The president believes Sessions, who recused himself from the Russia probe because of his involvement in the 2016 campaign, has failed to rein in a probe that Trump claims is driven by politics.”
–Lorraine Woellert, “Jerry Falwell Jr. says Sessions has lost evangelical support,” Politico, August 27, 2018 4:53 pm