Posted on 07/25/2017 7:33:44 PM PDT by Bratch
When President Trump made his initial remarks reflecting disappointment in Attorney General Jeff Sessions it was initially unnerving. The subsequent fallout from the public criticism has united the NeverTrump crowd, Cruzbots and professionally GOPe, to defend the honor of the much beloved former Senator. The opportunity to bash Trump is simply an ancillary benefit.
Conversely, the MAGA community has largely portrayed the rift as if the Presidential critique was part of a larger strategy between the President and Attorney General. If we wait long enough some mysterious master plan will eventually to be discovered.
However, the subsequent POTUS tweets and comments do not indicate any joint strategy at all. What they do actually show is a genuine disappointment and frustration with the focus of Jeff Sessions; and the cabinet member’s apparent unwillingness to confront the corruption within the DOJ and by extension the larger DC swamp.
It is not accidental the frustration and disappointment surface as the various opposition groups to the Trump presidency begin to target the entire Trump family. Despite some opinion to the contrary, Donald Trump does have a nuclear trigger point; target his family and you’ll find it quick. Just ask anyone who has known him for any substantive amount of time.
President Trump affirms his ‘confidence’ in Jeff Sessions’ ability to do the swamp draining and simultaneously expresses ‘disappointment’ that AG Sessions chooses not to. Confidence and disappointment are not mutually exclusive sentiments.
Under the former administration the Department of Justice was weaponized politically and legally by the executive branch against ordinary American citizens. A political example is the joint efforts between the DOJ and IRS to target political opposition, the Tea Party and organizations like True the Vote.
The legal examples of DOJ weaponization extend from “Fast and Furious” gun running ops to the targeting of the manufacturer of Gibson Guitar, and to legal cases involving local police departments like Ferguson Missouri, Baltimore Maryland and individuals like George Zimmerman. These are only a few examples; there are many more.
Attorneys’ General Loretta Lynch and Eric Holder did not participate in these examples alone. Under their guidance there exists a myriad of corrupt officials, black hats within the DOJ, who participated in all aspects of the weaponization.
This underlying corrupt architecture is what Jeff Sessions is choosing to ignore. This is the source of Trump’s frustration and disappointment. These deep state black hats within the DOJ are transparently not being confronted; meanwhile AG Sessions is running around the country with Rod Rosenstein holding pressers and proclaiming victories.
Yes, it’s great to finally have a law enforcement agenda with border policy, drug enforcement, and the capture of criminal enterprises with pedophile rings and human trafficking. Yes, all of that is great. However, there’s a larger issue at DOJ central where the refusal to confront the corrupt aspects within the organization only serves to fuel and enable the continuance of a corrupt swamp in Washington DC.
The corrupt institutional system that AG Sessions is apparently refusing to confront, are now targeting the personal family of the presidency. What usefulness is there in winning the small stuff if Sessions is refusing to confront the larger and more dangerous systemic corruption.
President Trump is an existential threat to the entire apparatus of the DC swamp. And so far AG Sessions appears content to ignore, or at best is prioritizing confrontation with the swamp at a much lower level of importance.
The commentary by President Trump should be considered against the totality of this backdrop. Winter is here; the time for confrontation is now. Mild mannerisms are not a valuable skill-set when engaged in epic confrontation. President Trump was not elected to nibble around the edges nor does his possess such a tempered disposition toward half-measures leaving the effort to someone else.
As a consequence, President Trump won’t let up on the pressure being applied to Jeff Sessions until the Attorney General agrees to clean his own house (and neighborhood) before journeying off to distant needs and righteous law enforcement endeavors. The most important battle is in Washington DC. So long as Sessions ignores this issue the pressure will remain.
Eventually, if the historic track repeats, Jeff Sessions will tender his resignation and an important heart-to-heart meeting of purpose will follow.
Whether that resignation is accepted or not will be entirely dependent on the disposition and willingness of Attorney General Jeff Sessions to confront the corrupt enterprise that has encircled Washington DC and metastasized its bile.
The Attorney General might not actually possess the skills, the instincts, to lead that disinfecting endeavor; or he might not desire to participate in an epic battle of such a politically adversarial nature.
Winter is here.
The choice will ultimately be his.
If he really the twitter comments from earlier expressing upset at there being no prosecution of Hillary, the President himself openly called for that so that is an absurd criticism...if he meant that and it wasn’t a ruse with another meaning.
However, when Sessions recused himself he should have appointed a special counsel himself setting narrow and specific parameters of what would be investigated. Now he can’t intervene to stop the mission creep because of the recusal and not appointing the counsel beforehand.
This kind of sensationalism is worse than the sort of tabloid coverage that Princess Diana got.
Donald Trump has a way of cycling through assistants when they aren’t willing to see things the way he does. He generally tries to make it amicable. This looks like a teapot tempest to me. I don’t even think Sessions will exit as an enemy, just as disagreeing.
If he really *meant* the twitter comments from earlier expressing upset at there being no prosecution of Hillary, the President himself openly called for that so that is an absurd criticism...if he meant that and it wasn’t a ruse with another meaning.
However, when Sessions recused himself he should have appointed a special counsel himself setting narrow and specific parameters of what would be investigated. Now he can’t intervene to stop the mission creep because of the recusal and not appointing the counsel beforehand.
Sessions is Ned Stark?
Says a guy named Sundance. Please. Use a real name or don’t bother.
... says a guy named InvisibleChurch?
Great commentary. Thanks for posting.
My guess is Sessions doesn’t see it. Too ingrained in the DC echo chamber. If you don’t see it you can’t fix it.
Very shallow 'analysis'. If this keeps up, many will discover that the dissatisfaction with Trump's tactics here will be deeper than that. Evangelicals and other groups of conservatives don't like this sort of public humiliation and trashing of a well respected conservative of longstanding.
You are wrong. The great majority wants a fight. Not cowardly words with no action. How many times do you have to lose before you finally get it.
Could someone please explain to me why Sessions didn’t tell Trump that he was going to recuse himself.
Lynch and Holder wouldn’t sneeze without asking Obama if it was OK to do so.
This useless guy cracks me up.
Makes good money though I bet.
“However, the subsequent POTUS tweets and comments do not indicate any joint strategy at all.”
Why, then, are the criticisms public? It looks to me like he’s putting on a show, WWE style.
I think the author here is speculating wildly. The whole charade between Trump and Sessions had an immediate false smell about it because it came from an interview that Trump gave to the NY Times — a media outlet that Trump has constantly ridiculed as “failing” and “fake news.”
Can you answer my question on post #12?
This is just tunneled-visioned nonsense, as if all the other executive branch heads have totally cleaned out all vestiges of Obamaism and liberalism in general that have accumulated over many years. I think a case can be made that Sessions has done more to turn the policies of the DOJ around than several other cabinet members.
Sundance got way ahead of himself on this one.
The great majority includes Trump supporters in the entire nation and you have no indication of what they think. And Trump only has put off a small percentage of supporters and his margin of victory is gone.
Can you tell me why, while the recuse issues swirled around the media from late January until Sessions recused on March 2, Trump or Preibus or the WH counsel didn't call those involved together to analyzed the legal issues and make a team decision?
That's how good managers and executives operate.
Wrong. His margin hasn’t changed a single tick. You are fooled. Do not mess with the Americans. We are done playing around.
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