9/3/2018

CONGRESS/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump on Monday [9-3-18] blasted his Attorney General Jeff Sessions and lamented the indictments of two lawmakers who were his earliest supporters in Congress during the 2016 election, suggesting they should not have been charged because they are Republicans…A decision by the Justice Department to hold off on prosecuting two Republican congressmen up for re-election in order to help them win would have been highly unethical and a blatantly politically motivated violation of the department’s nonpartisan mission. The comment on Monday was the latest indication that Trump, who ran on a pledge to ‘drain the swamp,’ believes his political allies should be immune from prosecution, regardless of the evidence stacked against them. The Justice Department declined to comment on the President’s tweets. The tweet marked Trump’s latest attack on the Justice Department, which has a long history of carrying out investigations and pursuing indictments in a nonpartisan fashion. Federal prosecutors are strongly admonished not to let politics affect charging decisions in the way the President advocated on Monday.”

Jeremy Diamond, “Trump blasts Sessions over indictments of two of his earliest congressional supporters,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, September 3, 2018 5:56 pm