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Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned Wednesday at the request of President Trump, ending a tumultuous tenure that began with Mr. Sessions as one of his close associates and which ended with repeated attacks. of the President against the Russian interference investigation in 2016. election.
The move comes after months of Mr. Trump expressing dissatisfaction with Mr. Sessions in critical and sometimes harsh tweets. Still, the speed of the move, coming just hours after the polls closed in the midterm elections, showed how Mr. Trump was eager to let Mr. Sessions go.
Mr. Sessions made it clear in his letter of resignation to Mr. Trump that the President had asked him to step down, saying he was resigning "at your request".
Trump announced his decision with a tweet stating that Matthew Whitaker, Sessions' chief of staff, would be appointed Acting Attorney General. Mr. Whitaker was to be sworn in later on Wednesday.
One of the urgent issues raised by the departure of Mr Sessions is the fate of Special Advocate Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election and any possible cooperation between the campaign. Trump and Moscow. Mr. Trump denied any collusion and called the Mueller probe a witch hunt.
The President's anger over Mr. Sessions stems from the Attorney General's decision to withdraw from the investigation because of his leadership role in the Trump campaign.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein oversaw the investigation in place of Mr. Sessions, but Mr. Whitaker should now oversee the investigation of Russia. He previously asked for limits to the investigation.
An administration official said Mr. Sessions would be out of the building on Wednesday at the end of the day. It's the White House chief of staff, John Kelly, and not Mr. Trump, who called Mr. Sessions and asked for the resignation letter, the official said.
President Trump answers questions regarding Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 elections, stating: "I could have terminated it at any time." Photo: AP
Mr. Trump tweeted: "A permanent replacement will be appointed at a later date."
Earlier Wednesday at a press conference, Mr Trump, questioned about the status of Mr Sessions and Mr Rosenstein, said: "I would prefer to answer that question at a slightly different time."
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Mr. Trump had weighed several candidates as a potential successor to Mr. Sessions, including Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, the General Counsel of the Department of Transportation, Steven Bradbury, former Attorney General Bill Barr, Assistant Secretary of State John Sullivan and Janice Rogers Brown, retired judge of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia.
In his letter of resignation, Mr. Sessions wrote: "I came to work every day at the Ministry of Justice, determined to do my duty to serve my country. I did my best. "
Wednesday's rapid developments are likely to end a long public career in which Mr. Sessions was a senior law enforcement official in Alabama, a long-time Republican senator from that state and US Attorney General. that he had described as a dream job. . He was one of Washington's first senior officials to support Trump, contrasting sharply with his subsequent role as a cracker of harsh criticism on the part of the president.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R., SC), a prominent member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, began reviewing the confirmation process for a new Attorney General, who could be keen on the contentious issues surrounding the Department of Justice. Justice and the Mueller investigation.
"I look forward to working with President Trump to find a worthy and trustworthy successor so we can begin a new chapter in the Department of Justice," Graham said.
The leader of the Senate minority, Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), noted that Mr. Whitaker had been a television analyst who had criticized the Mueller inquiry, and that he should recuse himself as Mr. Sessions.
"In light of his earlier comments in favor of the reduction of funds and the limitation of the Mueller investigation, Mr. Whitaker should evade his supervision for the duration of his tenure as Acting Attorney General," said Mr. Schumer.
In August 2017, Mr. Whitaker wrote a column for CNN in which he stated that Mr. Rosenstein should order Mr. Mueller not to investigate financial matters related to the Trump organization that have nothing to do with it. to do with the 2016 election. "If this is not the case, Mueller's investigation will begin to look like a political fishing expedition," wrote Mr. Whitaker.
Republicans seem ready to expand their current 51-49 majority in the Senate following Tuesday's election, which may facilitate the successor confirmation process.
Any new candidate is certain to be scrutinized during the confirmation process and to ask whether the Mueller probe will be repressed.
Mr. Sessions implemented Mr. Trump's extensive program of law enforcement, but his tenure was dominated by the Mueller investigation, which has so far nullified the conviction of the Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, the guilty pleas of other former Trump aides and the indictment. many Russians, among others. A referral from Mr. Mueller also led Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to plead guilty to crimes that included violations of campaign funding during the 2016 campaign.
Write to Sadie Gurman at [email protected] and Aruna Viswanatha at [email protected]
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