ATTORNEY GENERAL/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “When things were particularly bad between President Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions, the attorney general’s chief of staff, Matt Whitaker, would attend White House meetings in his place. But Sessions did not know that Whitaker at the same time was angling for a promotion.Whitaker, who was installed at the Justice Department by powerful White House allies, ‘spoke and behaved like he was attorney general, a source with knowledge of the meetings said. Wednesday [11-7-18], Whitaker got the job when Trump made him acting attorney general. Trump’s move puts Whitaker in charge of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. It has also created new controversies, with legal experts debating about the legality of the appointment and news stories featuring his past criticisms of Mueller and defense of Trump. The transformation of Sessions from influential early backer of Trump’s improbable presidential campaign to frequent target of the President’s scorn is a study in the fickleness of political alliances in Washington.”
–Evan Perez, Laura Jarrett and Ariane de Vogue, “Sessions realized too late that Whitaker was auditioning for his job,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, November 9, 2018 8:32 pm