President Trump made an astonishing statement to the New York Times on Wednesday, telling the paper that if he had known Attorney General Jeff Sessions was going to recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation, he would have picked someone else to head the Department of Justice.
Per the NYT:
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.
Trump went on to throw former FBI Director James Comey under the bus, accusing him of trying to leverage the 35 page Trump-Russia dossier to keep his job. Furthermore, Trump hated on acting FBI director Andrew McCabe – pointing out that his wife Jill received nearly $500,000 in 2015 from a PAC affiliated with Gov. Terry McAuliffe – a close Clinton ally.
Mulling over Mueller
Special Counsel Robert Mueller didn’t escape the President’s ire either – with Trump noting that several of the lawyers hired to investigate the Russia case contributed money to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Trump described interviewing Mueller to replace Comey, and hinted that there were non-public conflicts of interest to be revealed down the road.
“He was up here and he wanted the job,” Mr. Trump said. After he was named special counsel, “I said, ‘What the hell is this all about?’ Talk about conflicts. But he was interviewing for the job. There were many other conflicts that I haven’t said, but I will at some point.” –President Trump
When asked if Mueller’s investigation would cross a red line if it expands to the Trump family finances outside of Russia, the President said, “I would say yes… I think that’s a violation. Look, this is about Russia.”
Rod Rosenstein
Former Baltimore federal prosecutor and current Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein has stepped into the spotlight since Jeff Sessions recusal over Russia. Trump complained that Rosenstein was effectively playing both sides when it came to fired FBI Director Comey – as the Deputy AG both recommended firing Comey, and then appointed Robert Mueller – which Trump states was a clinflict of interest. “Well, that’s a conflict of interest,” Mr. Trump said. “Do you know how many conflicts of interests there are?”
Trump advisor Roger Stone has been dissing Sessions too…
Veteran Republican strategist Roger Stone has been publicly critical of Attorney General Jeff Sessions in recent weeks, over Sessions’ hard-line stance on the Bundy Ranch standoff retrial – which began on Monday. Stone has taken up the defense of the Bundy family and co-defendants.
As The Gateway Pundit reports in an exclusive interview:
What makes Stone’s support of the Bundy family even more notable is the fact that the defendants in the 2014 standoff are now pitted against the very administration Stone helped into the White House. Attorney General Jeff Sessions drew criticism from the former Trump advisor when he said that “leadership requires, a lot of times, our people to step up and be accountable.” After claiming he would remain impartial, Sessions proceeded to compliment the U.S. attorney prosecuting the Bundy Ranch case – calling him a “top guy leading the battle, going to court, standing up and defending the office and the principles of the law.”
Stone is also an advocate for the legalization of medical marijuana, which Jeff Sessions is vehemently against.
So – both Trump and long time advisor Roger Stone aren’t happy with Sessions for different reasons, and it appears that Robert Mueller and Rod Rosenstein might want to start sending out resumes. One wonders how long it will be before Trump casts a lightning bolt in their direction and cleans house…
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Times have changed. You play straight or fuck off. Long live the Orange God.
Mr Trump:
“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.”
My comment:
Is being fair to the President a requirement of the Attorney General position? It might be a factor in getting hired or fired. But once in the position of Attorney General, what is the duty and responsibility?
Hindsight is 20-20. Nevertheless, since Trump is aware of all the conflicts of interest, he as the prez has the authority to eliminate such conflicts and stop complaining about them….”you’re fired!”, next.
mx2102 – My guess? Sessions will be leaving soon and it will be voluntary. It’s common knowledge that Trump is angry with his recusal. Recently he has pissed off a lot of people over marijuana, the Bundy trial and the Asset Forfeiture Program. He won’t recover from it.
Best guess Rosenstein and Mueller will go too. Special Counsel will be closed down. I give it max 60 days, probably within 30.
There will be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth, but nothing will come of it because there are 2018 mid-terms coming. The Democrat resistance may harden, but so what? They want his head anyway so he needs to take theirs first.
Political war coming.