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Devlin Barrett
A journalist specializing in national security and law enforcement
Matt Zapotosky
National Security Journalist Covering the Department of Justice
Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned Wednesday at the request of President Trump, ending the tenure of a beleaguered loyalist whose relations with the president were broken when Sessions withdrew from control of the president. investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
In a letter to Trump, Sessions wrote that he had been "honored to be Attorney General" and had "worked to implement the law enforcement program based on the rule of law which was a central part of your campaign for the presidency ". Trump tweeted these sessions would be replaced by Matthew G. Whitaker, who served as the chief of staff of the sessions.
"We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his services and wish him well!" Trump tweeted. "A permanent replacement will be appointed at a later date."
[Read Jeff Sessions’ letter of resignation]
A Justice Department official said Whitaker would assume authority over the special council's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election – though its role may to be reviewed by ethics officers. Since Sessions had been disqualified, the Special Council's investigation had been overseen by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who also had strained relations with Trump, but he is considered safe for the time being.
Before joining the Justice Department, legal commentator Whitaker explained how a replacement of Sessions could reduce Mueller's budget "so low that his investigation is almost suspended." He also wrote in a September 2017 column that Mueller had "come to Russia's investigation into the interference in 2016 that he was dangerously close to crossing," CNN said. 39, a special lawyer could look into the financial ties of Trump and his associates with Russia.
[Sessions’s law enforcement legacy overshadowed by Trump’s fury]
A White House official said Trump had been held at bay to demand the resignation of Sessions until after Tuesday's mid-term elections, but he spoke enthusiastically about the dismissal of his attorney general as soon as the votes had been counted. The person stated that other members of the Cabinet were also in danger.
The sessions received a phone call from White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly on Wednesday morning before the President held a press conference, telling him that the President wanted the sessions resign, said an official of the administration.
The White House official said Trump loved Whitaker, who was a "retrograde football guy" who had repeatedly informed Trump.
Whitaker, a former US lawyer who ran an unsuccessful campaign for a Senate seat in Iowa, played college football at the University of Iowa.
"The president never wanted to see Jeff. So, many other people from the GM have been able to see the president, "said the person.
Two Trump-affiliated advisers, however, said the president was not planning to keep Whitaker permanently.
"I do not see him staying," said a Trump assistant. "I think the President will be much more deliberate in interviewing potential replacements for Jeff Sessions."
At the beginning of the administration, Sessions also handed Trump a letter of resignation and let him stand. This decision deeply worries the White House staff, including Reince Priebus, then chief of staff, who told Sessions that Trump would use this letter to manipulate him.
"You have to get this letter back," Priebus told Sessions, according to people close to the conversation.
Despite the tension with the White House, Sessions had described the position of senior law enforcement official as his dream job and continued his conservative program with flying colors. But he also had to live with sometimes humiliating attacks from a president he did not seem to like and the suspicions of career staffers who feared the politicization of a Justice Ministry that prides itself on being independent.
Veterans have expressed concern that repeated public attacks by Trump on sessions, the Justice Department and the FBI could cause lasting harm to federal law enforcement.
Sessions, 71, was the first US senator to support Trump, and in many ways he was the strongest supporter of the president's immigration, anti-crime, and law enforcement policies.
[While eyes are on Russia, Sessions dramatically reshapes the Justice Department]
But all these areas of agreement were eclipsed by the investigation of Russia – in particular, the recusal of Sessions after the revelation of the investigation after it was revealed that he had met repeatedly with the ambassador from Russia to the United States during the 2016 campaign then his confirmation hearing that he had met no Russian.
Trump never forgave Sessions this decision, which he considered an act of disloyalty that denied him the protection that he thought he deserved from his attorney general. "I do not have an Attorney General," he said in September.
In private, Trump is ridiculed for Sessions under the name of "Mr. Magoo ", a cartoon character aged, myopic and frolicking, according to his interlocutors.
Trump had also repeatedly threatened or demanded the ousting of Sessions behind closed doors, only to be persuaded by his aides that his dismissal was likely to provoke a political crisis in the Republican Party, where many conservatives remained loyal to the former senator. However, in recent months, some of these allies have expressed their willingness to tolerate the withdrawal of sessions after the mid-term elections.
The Democrats moved cautiously during the sessions – fearing that his replacement could not escape the investigation conducted by his special advocate, Robert S. Mueller III, on Russia.
A close-to-sessions, who requested anonymity to be frank, said that the Attorney General shared the President's frustration with the pace of the investigation over Russia and that he hoped that he would be happy to hear from him. it is completed. But Sessions also felt that by staying in office, he had protected the integrity of the investigation, said the person. In the long run, Sessions is confident that the investigation process will better serve the country because the findings will be more credible to the US public, said the official.
Mueller examines Trump's statements aimed at sacking sessions or forcing his resignation to try to determine whether these acts are part of the usual logic of attempting to obstruct justice, according to people close to the investigation .
Earlier this year, Mueller's team interviewed witnesses to Trump's private comments and state of mind at the end of July and early August of last year. close at the same time he had belittled his "beleaguered" attorney on Twitter. The questions were to determine whether the president's purpose was to oust the sessions so that he could replace him with someone who would take control of the investigation, these people said.
The sessions do not generally respond to the criticism of the president, but he sometimes backed down.
After a particularly strong tweet in February, in which the president declared that the actions of Sessions were "UNSAFEABLE!". He issued a statement: "As long as I am the Attorney General, I will continue to perform my duties with integrity and honor. will continue to do its work in a fair and impartial manner in accordance with the law and the Constitution. & # 39; & # 39;
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