Steve Bannon: Republicans just gave Trump 'a flashing green' light to replace Jeff Se

Steve Bannon: Republicans just gave Trump 'a flashing green' light to replace Jeff Sessions

Allan Smith
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https://amp.businessinsider.com/imag...c7-750-375.jpgSteve Bannon. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

• Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's former chief strategist, said he understands if the president wants to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
• He told Business Insider that some Republicans have already given Trump "a flashing green" light to do so.
• Trump ramped up his criticism of Sessions last week.
• Sessions offered a rare rebuke to some of Trump's comments.

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Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told Business Insider in an interview that some key Republicans have given President Donald Trump "a flashing green" light to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Trump ramped up his criticism of Sessions last week after a pair of bombshell legal developments. Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen made a plea deal with federal prosecutors, and his former campaign manager Paul Manafort was found guilty of a series of crimes.

Sessions, in turn, offered a rare rebuke to the president's remarks.

In Congress, multiple leading Republicans, such as Sens. Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham, signaled that Sessions is likely to be replaced following the midterm elections. Trump has been frustrated by Sessions' recusal from all matters related to the 2016 campaign.

Bannon, however, told Business Insider that recusal was unavoidable and that anyone as involved in the campaign — such as Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — would've had to do the same.

https://amp.businessinsider.com/imag...3e-750-563.jpg
Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions.Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

But removing Sessions could prove to be a red line for other Republican senators, as the ouster would give the appearance of Trump trying to interfere with special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing probe or to influence the Justice Department in other ways.

Saying he has "great deal of respect for Sessions," a "close friend" he calls "one of the fathers of" the right-wing populist movement, Bannon said it makes sense if Trump wants to get rid of the attorney general.

"I think he's done an amazing job on immigration and the issues," Bannon said. "But when a president loses confidence in an attorney general, it is his prerogative to do what he wants. Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham are not bomb-throwers. They are about as middle of the road as it gets. They get that after the November election, he's going to have a choice to make."

Bannon said he believes " a number of" Cabinet officials will either depart after the midterms, or Trump will decide he wants someone else in the role.

"And I think you've got a flashing green from both Lindsey Graham and Grassley," he added. "I think the question is who can actually get confirmed. Who's confirmable that would comport to the president's agenda. I think both on immigration, on the border, what he's doing for law and order, Sessions has had an extraordinary run."

As for who he thinks could possibly replace Sessions, Bannon said his personal favorite would be Solicitor General Noel Francisco.

"I think the solicitor general has done a pretty extraordinary job and is someone who will clearly be in the mix, but that's for the president to decide," he said.

Bannon, months after being castigated by Trump following his comments to the author Michael Wolff, recently launched Citizens of the American Republic, a political action group.

Already, Bannon says the group of 25 people includes former Trump campaign officials such as Michael Caputo and will be advising multiple pro-Trump surrogates. Bannon is also soon to release a new film, titled "Trump@War." The film highlights what the president has delivered to his supporters and makes the case that Trump's presidency is under threat.

That's the central theme of Bannon's message as he zeroes in on the midterm elections.
"This is President Trump's first reelect," Bannon said. "It isn't 2020. It's now."

https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-bannon-trump-fire-jeff-sessions-2018-8

If Trump dumps AG Sessions, I'll then know illegal immigration and border security aren't high on his priority list!

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Originally Posted by MW

If Trump dumps AG Sessions, I'll then know illegal immigration and border security aren't high on his priority list!

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The President and the Attorney General must be more than a One-Trick-Pony! Immigration is just one thing both must deal with. If immigration is the only thing you think Sessions is working on, then he should go.

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Originally Posted by jtdc

The President and the Attorney General must be more than a One-Trick-Pony! Immigration is just one thing both must deal with. If immigration is the only thing you think Sessions is working on, then he should go.

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Geez, are you really that out of touch? Time to do your research. Sessions is dealing with much more than immigration. However, most of us on ALIPAC consider illegal immigration and border security our #1 issue!

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Originally Posted by MW

If Trump dumps AG Sessions, I'll then know illegal immigration and border security aren't high on his priority list!

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I already know that, and have known it for months!

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Originally Posted by jtdc

The President and the Attorney General must be more than a One-Trick-Pony! Immigration is just one thing both must deal with. If immigration is the only thing you think Sessions is working on, then he should go.

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Since immigration is the one thing Trump is NOT working on, I'm glad that at least one person in the administration is trying to.

Why isn't someone asking why the US Department of Justice has a policy that would require or even attempt to require that Jeff Sessions or any other Attorney General recuse himself from an investigation simply because he supported Donald Trump or any other candidate for President, advised him on immigration issues or any other types of issues, and appeared with him on stage at some political rallies? These are the rights of every American to do without punishment, retribution or having to step aside from an appointed responsibility. Jeff Sessions is busy rewriting policies of the US DOJ on immigration and a host of other matters, why isn't he standing up for the First Amendment and rewriting a disgusting policy that he thinks led him to recuse himself from an investigation within his own Department? There is no law or court-ruling that required Sessions to recuse, there is no law-related or court-ruling related regulation that required him to recuse, there is only a DOJ in-house "policy" that so far EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE of the US DOJ has IGNORED, except the new guy, Jeff Sessions, whose is an appointed Senate confirmed Head of the Department who has the legal power and authority to rewrite any in-house, non-legal, non-court ruling "policy" that stinks to high heaven.

Jeff Sessions recusal played right into the hands of the DemoQuacks who wrote the policy and Never-Trumpers wanting to exploit it. When Trump asks aghast, "what kind of man would do this?", he is asking the Question of the Century.

That said, I don't think the President wants to fire Jeff Sessions, I think the President wants Jeff Sessions to do his job and end the Russia Hoax Witch Hunt, and rightly so.

He was advised by the DOJ ethics officials to recuse. It might be interesting to look a little deeper into their pedigrees.

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Originally Posted by Newmexican

He was advised by the DOJ ethics officials to recuse. It might be interesting to look a little deeper into their pedigrees.

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"ethics officials", yeah .... what a joke in the DOJ. If any of these "ethics officials" had any ethics, they would have already called for the arrest and prosecution of Comey, Strzok, Ohr, Sally Yates, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Christopher Steele, Rob Rosenstein, Robert Mueller and all the others involved in this attempt to frame Donald Trump and Trump Supporters for crimes that do not even exist in our country.

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"I think he's done an amazing job on immigration and the issues," Bannon said.

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My respect for Mr Bannon's opinions just took a dive. He gave Trump a free pass on endorsing Amnesty deals for 3-4 million illegals, not building the wall, not making a deportation force, not removing illegals from the voter rolls, etc....