President Donald Trump has spoken with advisers about firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, officials say, and launched a fresh Twitter tirade today against the man who was the first US senator to endorse his candidacy.
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!” Trump tweeted.
The president’s anger over Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Government’s investigation of Russian meddling in the US election had burst into public view yesterday when he referred to Sessions in a tweet as “beleaguered.”
Privately, Trump has speculated aloud to allies in recent days about the potential consequences of firing Sessions, according to three people who have recently spoken to the president. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Trump earlier this month assailed Sessions in a New York Times interview for taking himself out of the Russia probe, saying that if he’d known Sessions would choose that course he wouldn’t have installed him at the Justice Department.
Trump often talks about making staff changes without following through, so those who have spoken with the president cautioned that a change may not be imminent or happen at all.
“So why aren’t the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered AG, looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relationsIJ” the President tweeted on Monday.
His tweet came just hours before his son-in-law, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, traveled to Capitol Hill to be interviewed about his meetings with Russians.
Trump’s rapid-fire tweeting resumed at daybreak today, with the president wondering aloud about Sessions’ “VERY weak” position on “Hillary Clinton crimes.”
In another post to his Twitter account, Trump said: “Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump campaign quietly working to boost Clinton. So where is the investigation AG.”
Trump’s intensifying criticism of Sessions has fueled speculation that Sessions may resign even if Trump opts not to fire him. During an event at the White House, Trump ignored a shouted question about whether Sessions should step down. The attorney general said last week he intended to stay in his post.