Citing Recusal, Trump Says He Wouldn’t Have Hired Sessions

The New York Times ^ | 19 Jul 17 | PETER BAKER, MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and MAGGIE HABERMAN

[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.

[SkyPilot]

From the article:

“Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president,” he added. “How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, ‘Thanks, Jeff, but I’m not going to take you.’ It’s extremely unfair — and that’s a mild word — to the president.”

Mr. Trump also faulted Mr. Sessions for his testimony during Senate confirmation hearings when Mr. Sessions said he had not met with any Russians even though he had met at least twice with Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak. “Jeff Sessions gave some bad answers,” the president said. “He gave some answers that were simple questions and should have been simple answers, but they weren’t.”

If Sessions does not realize by now that he has lost the confidence of the President of United States, that he serves, then he is either tone deaf, or the most self-serving, selfish, and egotistical person in the entire Administration.

It is also clear in the rest of the article that Trump knows what we all know: Comey is a slime ball who tried to blackmail Trump with this phoney "piss-gate dossier." Mueller, Rosenstein, and McCabe are also slime balls who are out to destroy him.

[Alberta's Child]

I don't disagree with you. But there are a few things worth noting:

1. There are times when Donald Trump speaks too bluntly. It's not that he shouldn't be blunt, but it's clear to anyone who follows him for months at a time that there's often a complete disconnect between what he says BLUNTLY one day and what he says BLUNTLY two months later. This sort of nonsense doesn't reinforce his credibility at all ... it completely undermines it.

2. I'm sure there's a strategy here that I'm not aware of, and I'm fine with that. Making public comments like this in an interview with the New York Times, of all places -- after all the bullsh!t they tried to get away with in attacking President Trump over the last two years -- makes this whole thing look like nothing more than a staged WWE match.

[itsahoot]

We now have a Justice Department that does not disclose active investigations.

Don't remember Janet Reno huh? Janet would put every Clinton scandal under investigation then claim she could not comment on ongoing investigations, they were perpetually ongoing.

[SkyPilot]

Don’t read NYT.

It's an interview that Trump gave them and other media.

Spare us your righteous indignation.

[heights]

Not telling the President you were going to ‘Recuse” yourself, over an issue that would Plague the President for years , was Cowardly, Unethical and straight up devious. Fire him!

[mrsmith]

The media got Rod his job, so yes he works for them.
There’s nothing ‘there’ but there was no stopping the media. Russia was caught trying to interfere in the election. Technically that is what is being investigated by the SC.
So did most every other country. But the media isn’t interested in other countries (some, like China, are very necessary for the media’s profits).

[SkyPilot]

It looks like a classic "loss of confidence" statement designed to encourage Sessions to offer his resignation so that Trump isn't seen as firing him.

Agree 100%.

Hopefully, Sessions buys a vowel and is gone by week's end.

[kabar]

No he isn't. He is a disaster. Trump himself regrets appointing him.

Trump is angry and wrong. I supported Trump from the very beginning. Sessions support was instrumental in the victory.

That is a bunch of BS. Trump wrote the template for his victory, and it was all Trump. He carried the water, he paid the price, he took the lead, he won the victory. Your statement is completely insane.?

Insane? Read Sessions brilliant Becoming the party of work--How the GOP can help struggling Americans, and itself. written in March 2014. It is Trump's road map. And it should be required reading for every Rep running for elected office.

Why do you think Steve Miller came over from Sessions office to take charge of the immigration and trade issues. Steve wrote the position papers and he is now Trump's major speech writer, including the latest speech in Warsaw.

I have worked ten years on the immigration issue as head of a grassroots immigration group that lobbies on the Hill. I have dealt with Sessions on the immigration issue. He is a man of immense integrity and has great judgment. I have also worked with Kris Kobach, the brains behind the immigration movement. I have no doubt that Sessions played a role in getting him assigned to the election fraud commission. Sessions has been instrumental in recruiting others into the Trump administration like Julia Hahn and John Ferre who are great on the immigration issue.

Agree, but since then, Sessions has been nothing but a hinderance. He hung the President out to dry. Trump knows this. Did you even read the article?

Sessions has not been a hindrance, but rather an asset. Trump is blaming Sessions, but it is misplaced. Yes, I read the article and heard the audio. I am deeply disappointed in Trump for throwing Sessions under the bus. The Dems have tried desperately to get Sessions removed. The only Dem to vote for his confirmation was Mancin.

If I know Jeff Sessions, his resignation is already on Trump's desk. His character and integrity will not tolerate such comments by his boss. It will be a very great loss to the Trump administration and it raises doubts in my mind about supporting him going forwards. This is not how you treat loyal friends.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Exactly. Think of that police chief, they called him Moose during the DC Sniper. He was a figurehead designed to be incompetent while the real work was done behind the scenes.

[Will88]

No, Sessions Recusal and his Appointed a hard-Core Democrat as his second in command led to Mueller.

Wiki says Rosenstein is a Republican. He has been appointed to various government positions by both Dim and Republican presidents. He is a long term swamp creature who has worked for multiple administrations.

Rod Rosenstein

I agree he's been a disastrous appointment, but he is not a hard core Dim. He mostly seems like a guy who panicked and appointed a special counsel mostly to take the heat off himself.

[Kalamata]

..It’s astounding candor, but I don’t think he was speaking thoughtlessly. This is something many people still don’t realize about him. Many shockingly blunt things that Donald Trump says are nonetheless well-considered, and intended for a specific purpose. That fact should not be flippantly disregarded.
******************************************************
Well said. His honesty stands in stark contrast to the lies, spin, and also politicians specially selected words designed to “tickle the ears”.

For him to come out with this statement pretty much guarantees Sessions will resign. What AG would remain after their boss said this?

DJT must have a plan. Hopefully, he will appoint his own temporary AG who will get the job(s) done for the American People.

[CaptainK]

Do you think Trump is bad mouthing Sessions so the usual suspects don’t see it coming?

[kabar]

No testimony to Congress. No subpoenas. No Grand Juries. No leaks to the press. No warrants. No team of lawyers hired. Nothing.

Grand juries are kept secret. We had Congressional investigations that went nowhere. It is a good thing that Congress is not involved any further. We will see what happens, but there is no way you have the information or knowledge to rule it out. IMO there is an active investigation into the Clinton Foundation. It is just as good as your opinion.

[doug from upland]

Trump should not have given an interview to the Times. And he is wrong on Sessions. When he took the job, he had no idea he was going to have to recuse himself. Behind the scenes, Sessions is doing great work on getting rid of MS-13. At least cut him some slack for a little while.

[Cboldt]

-- This is to get the chattering classes all worked up and to talk about Sessions non-stop. Behind the scenes though, some bombs are about to drop. --

In some ways, this outburst could be intended to have Trump take the darts for a Sessions action. I don't think it works, but I can see the idea. Sessions goes after [pick DNC villian] , and the press chalks it up to pressure from Trump.

[Wissa]

Trump owes his victory to Sessions who provided him the template for the win. And his early support brought many conservatives to the Trump team. Steve Miller came over from Sessions office to run the Trump campaign’s policy on immigration and trade.

I have no idea what any of that has to do with whether he's the best person for a top position in Trump's cabinet.

He shouldn't have recused himself, since the media and Democrats in general had already shown that they are going to wage full-scale war against everything Trump. Trump is certainly aware of it. I don't know why Sessions is so naive that he couldn't see it. His recusal, followed by the appointment of the special prosecutor, is turning out about as well as if a military general would allow his enemy to put somebody in place to fight against you from behind your own lines.

I will say though that Sessions seems like a nice enough guy. In fact, he simply REEKS of Senate collegiality.

[Will88]

It looks like a classic "loss of confidence" statement designed to encourage Sessions to offer his resignation so that Trump isn't seen as firing him.

Sessions offered his resignation weeks ago, the first time Trump complained about him in the media.

[itsahoot]

To believe that there is an effective investigative team taking on the Deep State at this point is chocolate unicorns and rainbows.

Anyone remember when GW was going to jail those Clinton Crooks, Instead he adopted Clinton into the family.

These Crooked administrations must have an unwritten rule that allows an administration to rob the taxpayers blind and the incoming administration will shield them. When they leave they are protected the same way.

It must be true because no wholesale arrests have ever taken place and I have been around since FDR.

[lionstar]

“In hindsight, Sessions has been a disaster.”

Yep!

[SkyPilot]

This is not how you treat loyal friends.

Your statement applies to Sessions, not Trump.

Trump gave him his hand of friendship, and his trust.

He gave him his "dream job." He entrusted him as the chief Law Enforcement Officer of the United States.

Trump granted him a position of great power, prestige, resources, and authority.

And Sessions backhanded Trump across the jaw.

Has Sessions done some great things for the Conservative cause over the years? Absolutely!

But he has to go.

For a civil society to continue to function, the Rule of Law must be upheld.

After 8 years of seeing the Rule of Law raped, we hoped that someone would finally restore it, and hold those who violated it accountable.

Sessions took our trust and hope and tore it to shreds.