Posted on 07/19/2017 6:14:34 PM PDT by SkyPilot
President Trump said on Wednesday that he never would have appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions had he known Mr. Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation that has dogged his presidency, calling the decision “very unfair to the president.”
In a remarkable public break with one of his earliest political supporters, Mr. Trump complained that Mr. Sessions’s decision ultimately led to the appointment of a special counsel that should not have happened. “Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else,” Mr. Trump said.
In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, the president also accused James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director he fired in May, of trying to leverage a dossier of compromising material to keep his job. Mr. Trump criticized both the acting F.B.I. director who has been filling in since Mr. Comey’s dismissal and the deputy attorney general who recommended it. And he took on Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel now leading the investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s election.
Mr. Trump said Mr. Mueller was running an office rife with conflicts of interest and warned investigators against delving into matters too far afield from Russia. Mr. Trump never said he would order the Justice Department to fire Mr. Mueller, nor would he outline circumstances under which he might do so. But he left open the possibility as he expressed deep grievance over an investigation that has taken a political toll in the six months since he took office.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
After today, Sessions is gone. He will resign tomorrow.
So you are saying he is stupid. Got it.
This from February 16.
Should Jeff Sessions Recuse Himself From the Russia Inquiries?
There are many articles that discuss whether he should recuse himself before he announced his recusal. I think it is a key point that he, Trump, Preibus, the WH counsel and any other key people had weeks to consider whether or not Sessions should recuse.
The administration had several weeks to make a team decision as to what Sessions should do, but that never happened. It was a failure of them all that no such team decision was made on an issue that had been in the news constantly.
Sessions worked in DOJ for over 20 years and he was the AG in Alabama. He is well qualified and knowledgeable.
The last time President Trump had an opportunity to make a high-ranking appointment in the U.S. Justice Department he came up with ... Rod Rosenstein.
Yeah, that's the ticket. Talk about inspiring confidence, eh? LOL.
I'm reading transcripts of Sessions' confirmation hearings.
The following subjects are raised as points of recusal on January 10, 2017:
My response to the -- my recusal issue was because I'd made public comments about it that could be construed as having an opinion on the final judgment that would have to be rendered. I don't think I made any comments on this issue that go to that, but I would review it and try to do the right thing as to whether or not it should stay within the jurisdiction of the attorney general or not.DURBIN: It would strike me that this is an obvious case for a special prosecutor if it involves a campaign leading to a candidate who selected you as the attorney general. Wouldn't an abundance of caution suggest that you wouldn't want any questions raised about your integrity in that type of prosecution?
SESSIONS: Senator Durbin, I think it would be incumbent upon anybody who's holding the office of attorney general at that time to carefully think his way through that, to seek the advice and to follow the normal or appropriate special prosecutor standards. And so I would intend to do that. But I have not expressed an opinion on the merits of those issues, to my knowledge.
The second day, January 11, Sessions did not appear but the issue of recusal came up.
Sessions "hung in there" too, and recused only after reviewing the regulations, which are on point in relation to his history with the Trump campaign.
-- it was a failure of the Trump administration that a chief of staff, or WH counsel, or Trump or Sessions did not call key people together to discuss the issue and make a team decision of what Sessions should do. --
As to investigations into the Trump campaign, it wasn't an issue. It could have been, hypothetically, and in hindsight it is clear that Durbin was in collusion on a planned investigation.
If they'd had foresight of this, there were a few avenues to investigate. Did the rule call for recusal? If so, do we flout them, or follow them? If we follow them, who do I nominate? (can't be somebody from within the campaign).
All water over the dam. At this point, Trump blames Sessions, and hasn't gotten over it.
If he does, I will be relieved. I don't want to see Sessions destroyed or humiliated.
He is a decent man, a Christian man.
But he is a disaster as Attorney General.
Of course they need Sessions to recuse before they could execute the Mueller option.
See #143.
You don’t live in NJ do you?
I wouldn’t trust Christie as far as I could throw him.
Trump was not bound to recuse period. You may not of heard but an AG can be in Contempt of Congress and continue on as if nothing happened.
Wow!
I agree.
I'd like to explore Trump's expectation a little bit. Assume that Sessions hadn't recused. What's Trump saying today that he expected sessions to do? Play it out, and it sounds like Trump wanted to bury an investigation.
Now, I'm of a mind that any investigation was BS from the get-go, a witch hunt initiated by Comey, Lynch, McCabe, Brennan, a few others. But there it sat, hidden from Trump and Sessions.
I understand the frustration. But I find Trump's assignment of blame to be despicable.
You mean Sessions was not bound to recuse, right?
“He has too much self-respect and integrity to continue in office after that statement.”
True, and that’s why I think Trump was just jerking the NYTimes around. Trump can amend, ‘clarify’, his statement.
The President needs more education into the laws and protocol. Still not getting why he spouted off to the enemy...
Thank you!!!!
Also, why is it always assumed that if the Russians did interfere in the election, that they were successful? Maybe the interference was on behalf of Hillary and it didn't work. Just like Obama tried to influence the Israeli elections and was unsuccessful.
For the first time in more than four decades, Donald Trump is operating in an environment where he is not in full control of what happens around him. This is one of those times where his lack of any political experience really shows — and not in a good way.
You are reading the only reply I will ever make to one of your posts.
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