Thread: Breaking: Attorney General Jeff Sessions has resigned

Judy.
some thing about jeff I did not like Trump know what he doing as for Nancy she another one I don't like

Report: John Kelly, not Trump, called Sessions to request his resignation




Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

White House chief of staff John Kelly, not President Trump, called Attorney General Jeff Sessions to request his resignation, CNN’s Laura Jarrett first reported and Bloomberg's Chris Strohm confirmed.
The trend: Trump has faced backlash for the ways he's gotten rid of some of his top officials in the past. For example, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he found out he was fired when the president tweeted about it, and former FBI Director James Comey said he learned about his departure by seeing the headlines flash on the news.

https://www.axios.com/john-kelly-cal...90c2ec5e4.html

Originally Posted by southBronx

Judy.
some thing about jeff I did not like Trump know what he doing as for Nancy she another one I don't like

Yes, you're right, Trump knows what he's doing.

Jeff Sessions firing: top Republicans warn Mueller inquiry must continue

Matthew Whitaker, Trump’s interim replacement for attorney general, is longtime critic of special counsel

Jon Swaine in New York

@jonswaine
Wed 7 Nov 2018 19.21 ESTFirst published on Wed 7 Nov 2018 14.52 EST

Jeff Sessions with Donald Trump in Quantico, Virginia, last year. On Wednesday, Sessions wrote: ‘At your request, I am submitting my resignation.’ Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ReutersSenior Republicans led a chorus of public warnings that the special counsel Robert Mueller must be allowed to continue his Russia investigation after Donald Trump finally fired his attorney general, Jeff Sessions.

As Trump replaced Sessions with a senior aide, Matthew Whitaker, a critic of Mueller’s inquiry, Senator Susan Collins was amongst the first Republicans to warn: “It is imperative that the Administration not impede the Mueller investigation … Special Counsel Mueller must be allowed to complete his work without interference.”

Mitt Romney, who won the race on Tuesday to become a senator for Utah, aimed his first broadside at Trump, tweeting: “It is imperative that the important work of the Justice Department continues, and that the Mueller investigation proceeds to its conclusion unimpeded.”


The latest major Trump resignations and firings

As progressives activated a plan for mass protests across the United States, starting at 5pm Thursday in all time zones, the former CIA chief, John Brennan, predicted that it was likely Mueller had already completed his report for the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, who was yesterday relieved of his duty overseeing the investigation into Russian election interference and any collusion with the Trump campaign.

Brennan told MSNBC: “If there are some major indictments coming down the pike, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re going to see it very soon. Generally the report that the special counsel will draft and deliver to Rod Rosenstein, I wouldn’t be surprised if that is ready to go.”
Sessions looked close to tears as he was applauded by justice department staff on his way out of the building on Wednesday night.
His departure came hours after he received a White House call ordering him to resign.

He was replaced by his former chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, who has previously called for Mueller’s investigation to be defunded and reined in.

Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday afternoon that Whitaker had been appointed acting attorney general and that a permanent replacement would be nominated later.

Whitaker, 49, will take charge of the inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign. Sarah Isgur Flores, a justice department spokeswoman, said in an email: “The acting attorney general is in charge of all matters under the purview of the Department of Justice.”

Democrats expressed concern that the president was moving to sabotage Mueller’s investigation, which has obtained guilty pleas to federal criminal charges from Trump’s former campaign chairman, deputy campaign chairman, White House national security adviser and campaign foreign policy adviser.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, said in a statement that Whitaker should recuse himself from the Russia issue in light of “his previous comments advocating defunding and imposing limitations on the Mueller investigation”.

Trump’s decision concluded a long-running public feud between the president and his beleaguered attorney general.

Sessions said in an undated letter to Trump released on Wednesday: “At your request, I am submitting my resignation.” He took credit for reversing a recent rise in violent crime. He was later applauded by staff as he left the department’s headquarters.

“We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well,” Trump said.

A US official said on Wednesday that Sessions was told he had to resign in a telephone call from John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, rather than Trump himself.

Sessions, a former US senator for Alabama, was one of the earliest supporters of Trump’s presidential campaign, but ran into trouble soon after being confirmed to the new administration.

He enraged Trump by recusing himself in March 2017 from investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, following revelations that he had two undisclosed meetings with Sergey Kislyak, then Russia’s ambassador to the US.

Sign up for the new US morning briefingSessions had not disclosed the discussions when asked under oath during his Senate confirmation hearing in early 2017 about contacts between Trump’s campaign and Moscow. Following his recusal, the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, took over responsibility for Russia matters.

In May 2017, after Trump fired the FBI director, James Comey, Rosenstein shocked the White House by appointing the former FBI chief Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate Russia’s interference and any coordination with Trump’s campaign team.

That investigation has since continued without Sessions being involved, leaving Trump deeply frustrated. Trump has publicly lambasted Sessions for recusing himself, claiming he ought instead to have protected Trump against what the president has termed a “witch-hunt” over Russia. Sessions and Rosenstein have defended Mueller’s integrity.

Whitaker’s view on the investigation appears to be in more line with the president’s. He has publicly proposed choking off funding for Mueller’s investigation and wrote an article for CNN last year declaring that the special counsel was “going too far” and needed to be brought under control.

“The president is absolutely correct,” Whitaker said, after Trump suggested Mueller would exceed his remit by looking into the president’s finances. “Mueller has come up to a red line in the Russia 2016 election-meddling investigation that he is dangerously close to crossing.”

Congressman Jerrold Nadler of New York, the likely new chairman of the House judiciary committee, said the American public “must have answers immediately” on Trump’s reasons for firing Sessions.

“Why is the president making this change and who has authority over Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation? We will be holding people accountable,” Nadler said on Twitter.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the senior Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, urged senators from both parties to “speak out now and deliver a clear message” to Trump that he must not interfere with Mueller’s investigation.

Legal analysts said that Trump’s decision, announced soon after a lengthy and chaotic post-midterm election press conference at the White House, may set off a long-feared constitutional crisis over the fate of the inquiry, which followed a conclusion by US intelligence agencies that Russia intervened to help Trump win in 2016.

Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard University, said Trump’s replacement of Sessions with Whitaker was arguably an impeachable offence in itself. “This rule of law crisis has been a slow-motion train wreck for a long time,” said Tribe.

In any case, the firing of Sessions will conclude a bitter public dispute between the attorney general and his president that is unprecedented in recent times.

In August, Trump sharply criticised Sessions in a television interview the day after the president’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and his former campaign manager Paul Manafort was convicted of fraud – both cases having stemmed from the Mueller investigation.

Trump said: “I put in an attorney general that never took control of the justice department.”

Sessions struck back with a statement that said: “I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in … While I am attorney general the actions of the department will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...torney-general

I never believed Trump was guilty of collusion with the Russians. However, in view of his firing of Sessions, everything points to the fact that he is afraid of something being revealed. Perhaps his fear is for one of his family members or his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. I don't really have the answers, but it is becoming more and more obvious he is afraid of something.

If Trump wasn't afraid of the Russian collusion investigation revealing something, why place such a priority on firing Sessions. According to the article above, Sessions was out in a matter of hours after Trump had Kelly call demanding his resignation. It seems Trump thinks Whitaker will do his bidding and protect and his family. If Trump or his family didn't do anything wrong, why worry?

Trump either doesn't know what he's doing or he's afraid something is going to be revealed that he wants to keep out of public view.

Jeff Sessions didn't deserve to be treated with such disrespect. Firing him and then having him immediately (a few hours) vacate the Department of Justice building shows a very real sense of urgency on the part of President Trump. Why?

People may not understand the urgency, because it's not sunk in yet what happened yesterday. Republicans lost control of the US House of Representatives, that means in less than 2 months, Republicans will no longer have the control in the US House of Representatives to continue their investigations of DOJ, State Department, Intel Agencies and DNC corruption.

If we'd won, there wouldn't be time constraints, but we lost, so there is. There is not a minute or day to spare. Sessions understands this. DemoQuacks take over everything in the US House of Representatives the first week of January, less than 2 months from now. The House Committees and Acting Attorney General will be working 24/7 from now until then to wrap this up so charges can filed against all these Crooks, Liars, Leakers and Swamp Creatures who tried to rig an election, frame a President, delete emails after a subpoena was issued, and use the Clinton Foundation to profit from selling 20% of our uranium reserves to the Russians.

Trump knows what he's doing, and he's doing what has to be done.

Trump didn't realize Sessions was helping him by recusing. Now he'll pay for that mistake.

Jonathan Turley, Opinion columnistPublished 9:47 p.m. ET Nov. 7, 2018

Jeff Session's recusal was a great service to Trump, yet Trump never forgave him. Acting Attorney General Whitaker will be tested like Sessions was.



(Photo: Mandel Ngan)

In the Shakespearean drama known as the Trump administration, the Jeff Sessions is the ultimate tragic figure undone by doing the right thing. His epitaph could accurately borrow a line from King Lear: “I am a man more sinned against than sinning.”

Sessions was the first powerful Republican and U.S. Senator to support Donald Trump. However, his greatest service to Trump was the act that Trump never forgave him for: his recusal from the Russian investigation. The fact that Trump still does not seem to appreciate how Sessions helped him is precisely why this resignation is so unnerving. The appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general only magnifies those concerns.

When Sessions was nominated, some of us immediately said that he should recuse himself since he played a key role in the campaign. Sessions did not immediately do so but rather waited for a full review of career ethics experts at the Justice Department. That review came to the same conclusion that a recusal was needed to protect the integrity of his department and the investigation.

Trump began crisis by firing Comey

The recusal snowballed in significance after Trump unwisely fired then FBI Director James Comey. I was highly skeptical of the need for a special counsel until Trump fired Comey. Trump insiders have stated that only Jared Kushner supported firing Comey, but Trump still gave the order. Had he stayed quiet and allowed the FBI to complete its investigation, he would have been likely cleared in short order. However, that firing left little question that a special counsel was needed. That had nothing to do with Sessions.

Even then, Trump should have seen the benefit of the recusal. There is still no direct criminal evidence against Trump of obstruction or collusion. By recusing himself, Sessions guaranteed that such a conclusion would be untainted by questions of improper influence. Instead, Trump began his campaign of self-defeating attacks on Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Trump clearly wanted Sessions to bring the investigation to a rapid close and to refuse to appoint a special counsel. That would have required Sessions to shut down an investigation that was already pursuing possible criminal charges. That could well have cascaded from a threat of weak prosecution into a strong impeachment.

Despite Trump’s continual abuse of Sessions, the attorney general continued to advance his agenda in every other way. Indeed, Sessions has been one of the most aggressive cabinet members in reshaping the policies of his department to push through Trump’s policies on immigration, criminal justice and a host of other areas.

The lesson not learned from Sessions could still prove lethal for this president. The appointment of Whitaker may well indicate a worrisome failure of comprehension. Whitaker has previously suggested that an acting attorney general could kill Mueller’s investigation without actually firing him. He has also been critical of the investigation.

Whitaker's appointment could still snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. Mueller is clearly winding down his investigation. While there are some possible subjects (like Donald Trump Jr. and Trump confidante Roger Stone) who may be facing serious threats, Trump is unlikely to be indicted or even implicated in collusion or obstruction. If Whitaker acts to limit Mueller at this point, it could raise new concerns for obstruction.

Moreover, Whitaker could well receive Mueller’s report and refuse to send the report to Congress or approve new charges. Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, Whittaker can serve without Senate confirmation for 210 days. That would mean serving until June 2019 – well beyond the expected date for the submission of the report. Finally, Whitaker could mirror a hardline approach with the new White House counsel in refusing investigatory demands from the new Democratic-controlled House.

The longer Whitaker serves, the more suspicious

Whitaker could use the next seven months to move the Justice Department into a fully bunkered position with regard to the Special Counsel and congressional investigations. He could then hand over the department to a nominee to become the permanent Attorney General. The longer he serves in this position, the more likely he will be viewed as a cynical choice. There is no reason why a new attorney general nominee could not be selected in January and, with a strong Republican majority in the Senate, such a nomination could move swiftly to confirmation. Continuing with an acting attorney general for an artificially long period would add suspicions that Whitaker was selected as a type of one-trick pony.

None of this means that Trump is about to repeat his mistakes from the start of his administration. In his press conference, Trump said that he does not intend to cut short the investigation despite his contempt for it. Moreover, while Rosenstein would have been the natural choice as acting attorney general, Rosenstein’s own serious conflicts of interest (and baffling failure to recuse himself as a witness in the investigation) makes his selection problematic. Finally, Whitaker is likely to allow Mueller to continue and could well defer to him on criminal charges in conformity with prior Department special investigations.

This brings us back to lesson of Sessions. For the president, the lesson was appointing someone who put the ethics rules of justice over the interests of the president. If Whitaker is viewed as the anti-Sessions, that could put him in a very difficult position within weeks. The greatest test for Whitaker could come if Mueller proposes an indictment of someone like Trump Jr. or a report with damaging evidence against President Trump. At such a moment, the problem may not be Whitaker’s inclinations but Trump’s expectations.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opini...mn/1922500002/

Ann Coulter: ‘Obviously No One’ Left to Enforce Immigration Law with Jeff Sessions Gone

Nov. 7, 2018
John Binder

As Attorney General Jeff Sessions departs President Trump’s administration, New York Times best-selling author and populist conservative columnist Ann Coulter says there is “obviously no one” left to enforce immigration law in the president’s cabinet.

In exclusive comments to Breitbart News, Coulter said Sessions’ departure leaves a gap for who will be the chief enforcer of Trump’s pro-American immigration reforms, which the Attorney General had taken the lead on since his confirmation to the post.

“Obviously no one,” Coulter says of who is left to champion Trump’s immigration agenda. “Is Stephen Miller a potted plant? Was Trump patting him on the head every time he’d insult and humiliate Miller’s former boss?”

Coulter told Breitbart News that out-going Kansas Secretary of States Kris Kobach ought to replace Sessions as attorney general, saying Kobach would “fulfill Trump’s immigration promises.”

As for Sessions’ tenure at DOJ, Coulter says she gives Sessions an A+ grade while giving every other member of Trump’s administration a “D to F” grade, except for trade advisers Peter Navarro and Wilbur Ross, both of whom she gives an A grade.

As Breitbart News has chronicled, Sessions has been at the forefront of enacting Trump’s “America First” immigration agenda. Session ended the DACA amnesty program, enacted major asylum reforms to curb illegal immigration, and remained steadfast in fining businesses that hired foreign workers over American citizens.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...sessions-gone/