Normally there’s a bit of a news lull after an election while everyone gets a sense of the new lay of the land. Unsurprisingly, US president Donald Trump wasn’t into self-reflection at the news that he had just lost the House to the Democrats.
Instead he warmed up by ramping up his rhetoric about the media being enemies of the people (including suspending the White House access pass for CNN’s chief political correspondent Jim Acosta on the spurious grounds that he assaulted a White House intern), praised Fox News for doing an “incredible job” for the Republican Party during the election, and also “accepted” the “resignation” of his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions.
We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States. He will serve our Country well….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2018
Sessions chose to resign in much the same way that passengers on the Titanic chose to go for a cheeky midnight dip, and brings to an end one of the most one-sided love stories of the Trump era.
Sessions was one of the very first Republicans to get on board the Trump express – endorsing the then-nominee back in February 2016 with the memorable quote “this isn’t a campaign, this is a movement”.
For that, and his support throughout the primaries and the eventual campa-sorry, movement, he was made attorney general following the election in November that year.
That sounded weird then, huh?
Unfortunately Sessions had been asked about knowledge of Russian interference in the election by then-senator Al Franken during his confirmation hearings, at which point he’d said “I’m not aware of any of those activities.” Problematically, just under a month after being sworn in, he was revealed to have had spoken twice to the Russian ambassador to the US.
Thus, when the Justice Department began rumbling with rumours of an investigation into Russian interference, Sessions recused himself from any involvement. As far as Trump was concerned, Sessions not being able to shut down any such investigation rather defeated the entire point of having an attorney general.
By May Trump was openly accusing Sessions of “disloyalty” for obeying the rule of law rather than protecting the president from legal challenges. By July he was telling reporters “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.”
And as the investigation went on, so did Trump.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017
And on…
Question: If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration, right up to January 20th, why aren’t they the subject of the investigation? Why didn’t Obama do something about the meddling? Why aren’t Dem crimes under investigation? Ask Jeff Sessions!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2018
And on…
Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2018
And on…
Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2018
By September the internationally respected investigative reporter Bob Woodward was quoting the president in his book Fear: Trump in the White House as having described Sessions as “mentally retarded” and “a dumb Southerner” – which Trump somewhat implausibly denied.
And as such Sessions is a powerful reminder for everyone who has ever worked for a boss that openly hates them: things aren’t going to get better, no matter how unwavering your support and unquestioning your loyalty, and really you should just raid the stationery cupboard before throwing a lit match over your shoulder on the way out.
Still, now it frees up Jeff’s time for other important work…
looks like jeff sessions can finally get back to haunting Hill House
— Jill Gutowitz (@jillboard) November 8, 2018