After a historic mid-term election, I watched a Netflix movie "Feminists: What were they thinking" took us back to the sowing and germination of a movement that has sent ripples into chain reactions of change. Adding a perspective to where we have come and where we are going into 2020...!
45* is trying to start his own chain reaction of events today by firing Sessions and will be on the attack, especially before the next Congress is seated on Jan. 1 and before the 2020 presidential elections.
However, I think the sequence for confirming Sessions' replacement will have to wait until Congress is back in session at the first of the year in 2019. Plenty of time (btwn now and Jan. 1) for 45*'s mis-administration to try to mount a Putin-esque invasion upon the US Justice department and Intelligence agencies they want to gut and bankrupt.
Mr. Sessions may have come late to realize that Russia has an Apprentice puppeteer in office and his handler is a very impatient for rapid and maybe violent change.
The PRESS, the Justice Department, and career Armed Forces and Civil Servants may be the last things that stand in their way...!
2
President Trump, you're acting very guilty for such an innocent man.
9
Sessions may be a good guy, but the immediate recusal reflected a tendency to be in too big a hurry to placate people who would accuse on the basis of weak or false information. He also failed to pursue the prosecution of Hillary Clinton after the head of the FBI revealed her egregious and negligent handling of her email security when she was Secretary of State. His dismissal was too long in coming.
1
So Trump is now considering Chris Christie or Pam Bondi for Atty General.
Hmmmm.
Let's see, based on "optics", I'm betting Trump chooses Bondi.
1
Mr. Sessions entered Trump World with his cynical eyes wide open. That he didn't see his own downfall coming at the hands of the very man he early threw his support to, hoping, correctly as it turned out, to ride his coattails to power, is like a living illustration of a Greek tragedy. Those commenting here who now somehow hope that Sessions is going to play the part of the chorus for them will I think be disappointed. That's not the how the play works...
1
Hello Roy Cohen make sure you report to Trump what Mueller probe has on the Trump family so they may squash it. Hello dictator Trump ordering McConnell to investigate democrats who investigate him.
2
This is putrid !
The perp gets to fire the investigator, then replace him with a buddy who will do a non-investigation.(A Kavanaugh)
2
Most of the world’s poor see western countries as rich havens where they would like to move. They do not realize that automation and out-sourcing have been radically changing our economies, with the result that education has grown in importance. Those with inadequate education are not earning enough to keep their families together. In many areas there are now so many low-income, single parent families that no one has the time, money, or energy to make social bonds. The places they live are losing their sense of being communities.
The last thing those who do not earn enough to keep their families and communities together want is for illegal migrants to move in to compete with them for jobs, affordable housing, and medical care. Immigrant children crowd their children’s schools and require a disproportionate share of resources.
American citizens who cannot earn enough to hold their families or communities together think our country should be helping them rather than aiding an ever-increasing number of illegal migrants. If we ignore our own citizens to grow up and live in broken homes and faceless communities, they could turn to the far right for a sense of belonging and identity.
Sessions was correct to enforce our immigration laws. Our country’s first obligation is to its own citizens. If possible, we should try to help Central Americans improve their own countries. We cannot let them displace our citizens.
USA: transition to banana republic complete!
4
Did he take the oath of loyalty to Trump?
1
Democrats just can't catch a break. The referendum on Trump turned out as flat as last week's soufflé. The Blue Tsunami fueled by "national rage" produced mediocre results in the House and actually fizzled in the Senate.
Faced with the prospect of actually promoting some semblance of a policy that might benefit Americans outside the liberal bastions of elitism, the rallying cry from the Left is "Subpoena! Subpoena! Subpoena!" Nadler, Waters, Schiff etc will flaunt their one trick political pony until the chickens come home. Way to govern, Dems.
Today, Jeff Sessions is a martyr for leftism. Not long ago, he was a racist from Alabama.
NEVER TRUMP. #resist.
Sad, Times.
3
We Iowans know Whitaker, he was on the Hawkeye football squad back in the early 90's. He's had a few jobs. He even tried to convince us to sent him to the Senate, but in the primary he couldn't even beat Joni Ernst, and that's saying something. So he's not all that distinguished as a politician. Then he went into the patent troll business for awhile, which I wouldn't exactly call a distinguished legal career, either. I suppose he's been climbing the Republican loyalty ranks for a few years now. NYT thinks he's a "loyalist." To whom, Trump? Well I doubt that. There may be a story there.
3
Was Trump's former bodyguard and McDonald's gofer Keith Schiller unavailable as acting AG? Just as bad would be Chris Christie, the other McDonald's gofer who's been waiting for any crumb of a job offer from the White House.
2
Poor Donald! He gets scared so easy. He's scared of those poor people and their kids walking up from Mexico. And while we try to console him he can barely get any sleep before he gets nightmares. !Que lastima! I've told him that they aren't going to hurt him but he's just terrified. Poor child! And lets not even mention the monster under the bed. Poor Donald! He's got out all his toy soldiers and he asked me which way was Mexico and he's lined them all up facing that side of his room.
5
Someone should check to see whether this former football star had one too many concussions. The are enough nuts in the cabinet without stocking more.
3
Chris Christie’s sterling record in closing down New Jersey bridges makes him an excellent choice for our next Attorney General.
It matches perfectly with Trump’s sterling record for not repairing them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/nyregion/bridgegate-trial.html
3
Sorry to be a starry-eyed goofball and all, but I think Trump and Trumpists honestly are clueless that they’re fooling with the first team now.
Yeah, this is Bad. Really Bad, as even a Trumpist should know. But I am betting that a Marine combat vet with a long, long career of honesty and service is gonna run rings around the shabby likes of Donald Trump and his merry band of incompetents, crooks, and maybe two decent guys who’re trying to keep the boat bailed out. It’ll take time, Bad Things Will Happen, but unless Robert Mueller is the complete opposite of everything he’s ever been, those indictments and reports are going to come.
Oh, and the bad guys seem to like references to “Game of Thrones,” now. One wonders why they didn’t pick “House of Cards,” but anyway....
Boys, Nancy and Adam and Jerry and Clyburne Are Coming.
Enjoy, enjoy.
4
Trump can name who he likes as stand in AG. The Mueller investigation might very well have evidence that Trump was involved in corrupt dealings with Russians. The rest of the investigation is a never Trump snow job. Clearly the Russians did not have the where with all to steal the election. Trump's acts as president certainly have not been friendly to the Russians. In fact Trump and Bolton seem to want to press forward with the most hawkish neo con platform. The Russian investigation started out as a foolish and dangerous effort to claim that Putin and Trump actively worked together to steal the election which never happened.
a "requested" resignation is an involuntary discharge. existing federal law places limitations on a president's ability/authority to replace a person who has been discharged.
will mueller and/or his team raise this statutory issue, if whitaker attempts to impede the investigation?
will whitaker risk indictment for conspiracy to obstruct justice? watergate, here we come again.
1
Two minutes ago I read that 53% of the world's population live in non-democratic regimes, according to the Human Rights Foundation.
Is the U.S. under Trump and the far right-wing,, hardliner GOP about to be one of these "non-democratic" regimes?
Actually, with the firing of Sessions and attempt to bury the Mueller investigation by replacing Sessions with a lackey Trump loyalist, I would say Trump is now officially running an "anti-democratic" regime.
Is this what 40% of American voters want and vote for?
3
"Democrats quickly demanded on Wednesday that Mr. Whitaker also remove himself from taking charge of the inquiry, citing potential conflicts of interest, including his criticisms of the Mueller investigation"
Interesting.
I don't recall the Democrats, the NYTimes, or NYTimes readers expressing similar concerns about Peter Strzok...who clearly expressed a bias against Donald Trump and a bias in favor of Hillary Clinton. In fact, they defended Strzok and his "objectivity" in conducting his investigations of Clinton and Trump.
2
"Trump's appointment of acting Attorney General is un-Constitutional."
George T. Conway III
Yep. There are not enough closets in the entire world to hide all Trump's skeletons, and he knows it.
It wasn't an illegal move. And Sessions was a waste of space.
2
Why didn’t Deputy AG Rosenstein become acting AG, as prescribed by law?
Even Fox legal analyst Napolitano says the appointment of Whitaker is illegal.
The NY Times needs to pursue this.
6
I'm no advocate for Sessions, but I do respect his decision to recuse himself from the Mueller investigation. I believe he did it to avoid becoming a villain in the oncoming crisis Trump has brought upon himself. It remains to be seen if Whitaker will be as noble or show the same kind of integrity, but I have little reassurance from his previous statements. I am *very* grateful that the House will soon be able to provide balance to Trump's highly suspect administration.
7
Donald says he knows more about the Trump/Russia investigation than members of the House, including the Intelligence Committee.
You know how he always gives away the store? It's possible his new AG won't shut down the Mueller investigation, but will relay their findings and evidence to the White House.
Recall that Nixon's AG, John Mitchell, went to jail for obstruction.
8
I applaud Jeff Sessions! Thank you for holding the line and having some integrity. Now go have some fun!
1
Jerry Nadler should hire Mueller the day the White House fires him or interferes with the investigation.
7
You know what things have come to when you're sorry to see Sessions go!
14
The White House is occupied by a tyrant. Sessions, who helped put him there, is only another victim. Tragically, we all are.
4
The worlds greatest democracy....
... are obviously nothing but the worlds greatest Kleptocracy.
5
Next up: Whitaker will start another investigation into Hillary as ordered from the boss.
3
@Dan She doesn't hold any office. What a waste of time.
This resignation aka termination letter was not dated. I wonder if it was given to DT way back in June 2017 when Sessions offered to resign due to tension between the two regarding Sessions's recusal. DT could have saved it to use at any time at his discretion and timing.
3
Why is it that the overwhelming emphasis on "loyalty" by this administration always seems to entail the willingness to subvert truth and justice to the whims of Trump?
17
Sessions was fired by Trump. The rest is legal pretense and sham with the intent to obstruct justice.
9
Jeff Sessions: Karma never forgets...
The goes for the other ones...
"Trump Installs Loyalist"..... until he is not...
"obstruction of justice" on plain sight.
8
It is my hope that Robert Muller was able to share his investigative evidence and conclusions with several United States Attorneys around the County and with most of the relevant States Attorneys General. I also hope he has the ability to leak it to the Democrats in the House who will soon be coming into power.
Trump will undoubtedly start a search and destroy mission via his new surrogate Attorney General. And whom ever that United States District Court Judge who is responsible for the Special Counsel's existence is, I hope he/she stops Trump's quest to destroy Robert Muller's work until the house flips to Democrat control and can start issuing subpoenas.
3
Sounds like DJT has planted a "mole" from whom he expects to get inside information as to what is going on inside the investigation.
Taking big risks but is very scared!
7
Noel Francisco too.
It's clear that anyone with a good track record in government would not want to go work for Trump. There's just too much risk that one's career will be destroyed.
4
Our “business” President grades out at a D- on the number one thing any good CEO needs to be good at: building and retaining a good team.
8
What was perfectly clear 2 years ago, that Trump is a corrupt, criminal modern day fascist has become even more clear with his firing of Sessions and put another one of his very dubious friends in charge of the Russia investigation.
Trump does not care about America,
He sees everyone who disagrees with him as his personal enemy who has to be punished and eliminated.
And how does Pelosi respond, just like she did when two years ago, she will try to find common grond.
And Nance how did that turn out for the Democratic party? Pelosi and Schumer live in a naive past.
You cannot negotiate with criminals, you will always loose, as they are not afraid to beat you up and no present Democratic leader has a clue how to respond as has been shown over and over.
And next election democrats, democracy will be suffering even more.
Democrats wake up, before the party will fully collapse under Pelosi and Schumer’s leadership.
Weasels win never beat wolves
5
Stalin would promote and use people until they got to a certain level of power and knowing his secrets.
Then he would kill them.
It was not an incentive to rise in the ranks.
Trump, who has zero interest in our country and is acting the role of a dictator/president, plays with his toys, the people who work under him. Then, when no longer needed, they are tossed overboard; pawns in his game of chess.
This latest moron will find himself a goner when the time arrives.
Trump is now using the Stalinist term, enemy of the people.
Telling.
18
I never liked what Sessions wanted as policy but Sessions did the right thing over King trumps requirements by recusing himself. Now he is being punished for it. With King trump in charge we are moving further and further away from American values. Please wake up people. This is crazy and unprecedented.
5
I was so sorry to see Jeff Sessions get fired. He did not deserve this treatment. He should not have recused himself form the Muller investigation and hopefully the new acting AG will put some chains on Muller and curb his activities.
But Jeff made a superb attempt to deal with illegal immigration. I was glad to see him abolish funny asylum claims for domestic violence and gangs. He was definitely working on limiting the number of immigrants and stopping illegals.
He will be missed.
1
Yeah, why follow the ethical guidelines and step away from an investigation into some of what went on among the guys you endorsed and campaigned for. Makes no dern sense atall, not atall.
Why, you might leave some honest Republican that Trump appointed in charge.
By the way and not that you’ll care, but maybe you might take a gander at deportation numbers under Obama and stuff. I mean, nice try on pinning the ol’ “disease-ridden commies and pinkos and gangsters and sinister Arabs,” label on women and kids who have a legal right to ask for refugee status, but that darn Black President seemed to be able to manage without the infantile screaming, and without yanking the Airborne and a chunk of the 4th Infantry away from Thanksgiving so they can stand around coils of razor wire and wait a couple months.
Hey, I have a question. Posse comitatus laws much? I thought you folks were all ABOUT stopping an oppressive gov from flinging troops around the US of A.
For a moment I actually felt some genuine sympathy for Jeff Sessions, but then it passed quickly.
9
Good. Now maybe this ridiculous Russian investigation will stop
2
@NYC Dweller, well, it is time to start the prosecutions, anyway, . . so I agree.
14
Trump is putting his Dictatorship in place. Destroying anyone who opposes him; putting allies and cronies in all positions of power. Is their still the way to save America? Unknown. Ray Sipe
10
Actually the President didn't actually make the decision to fire Sessions - he decided to order Kelly to do the deed.
Kelly made the decision to carry out the firing.
Donald is a coward.
Big surprise, I know.
9
This president is beyond corrupt.
8
Lindsey Graham, have you no sense of decency? Don’t bother answering. We know.
8
Lindsey Graham, the next Attorney General, worked his way fro being a Trump denier to Trump lapdog. His performance during the Supreme Court hearings, secured his future
6
'Loyalist' replaces 'man of integrity.' That sounds like an epitaph for the Trump Administration's headstone. And why is it that Sessions couldn't force Trump to fire him? Was it a rollover/tummy tickle move?
5
@omartraore
When your boss request you resign, that is fired.
"Paging a Mister Robert Mueller, . . . Robert Mueller, . . . "
2
You have to acknowledge one thing about Donald Trump: he is absolutely relentless.
The moment the mid-terms are over; he fires Sessions, appoints his own man to try to shut down the Mueller inquiry. He threatens the House that if they investigate any of his questionable activities; he will refuse to work with them and launch his own investigations against the members. He exiles a reporter who asks him incisive questions. He publicly derides Republicans that lost and blames them for not embracing him. Trump is inexorable in his pursuit of unchallenged power.
9
The Mueller investigation has been going on and written and talked about daily for almost two years and divided the country, how anyone could not have some opinion about it after all that is impossible to believe. Lets find out if Whitaker saw the Ford Bronco chase on TV as well, that would tell us what we really need to know about him.
2
Seems the loyalist Graham is waiting in the wings as a shy debutante waiting to be offered again...
2
Lest we forget, he is meeting with his boss Putin in Paris this weekend for his annual performance review.
8
Donald used to think that he was merely egotistical. Now he is certain that everything is really all about him. Up to this point he has been kind to his admirers and enablers by letting them believe that they were essential to his rise. But now he doesn’t need this convenient pretense anymore. He is finally reassured that enough of the rest of us are convinced that it is all about him for him to believe that he can succeed entirely on his own.
A very important piece of information about dealing with people is that human beings have an essential compulsion to be delusional. Another important piece of information is that it is extremely difficult to influence the way people think about things by telling them that they are delusional. And a third important piece of information about us is that our ultimate worth is only measured by our ability to exercise self control.
Donald’s ego is rapidly acquiring such an uncontrollable mass that it will soon implode into a forgettable little black hole, taking with him all the dead weight that he has accumulated along the way.
3
Does Mr. Whitaker wish to take the risk, with a high probability, that any effort to serve his "master" Trump by interfering, to any material degree, with the work of the Mueller Investigation will result in charges lodged against him for criminal obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and others? Is a loyalty to the unloyal Fake President worth such dire legal exposure and the loss of one's license to practice your profession, in addition to the crippling legal expenses he will incur? He truly is an absolute fool to even consider serving Trump in this felonious fashion.
3
Loyalist or co-conspirator to obstruct justice? A future Attorney General may want to know.
2
They're all loyalist until Trump decides otherwise.
2
We are reliving Watergate or even worse. We need the press more than ever. What the WH did to Acosta is dangerous. Can the press collectively stand to up to this Administration and boycott the WH?
5
Sessions’ theme song as he was booted out of the corridors of power should have been that old Rolling Stones song “You Don’t Always Get What You Want (... but if you tried sometimes, you get want you need).”
1
Can we please now investigate Sessions for perjury? He met with the Russians during the Trump campaign and did not disclose it. Maybe he can plead guilty and get a lesser charge.
6
Tom Steyer - if Trumps AG tried to scuttle the Russia investigation by cutting off funds, write a check to the FBI to cover ongoing work.
6
Release your tax returns Trump. If you did not do any wrong then you have nothing to fear. Release your tax returns to We the People. Now.
5
I'm sure that Mueller team fully anticipated this day in a life of gangster occupying the WH.
He didn't waste any time, since he knows he has couple of month left until new house majority will take it's place. So he rushed to protect his criminal family enterprise by installing the loyal lackey as a new acting AG.
Means nothing to him, that he plunge the country on the brink of constitutional crisis, it's never about the country for this shameless, petty and despicable creature.
It will take generations of new honest public servants to bring this tormented country back from apparent collapse.
Let's make sure to hold every republican accountable for what they allowed to happen!
Let's say NEVER AGAIN!
6
For Donald Trump, loyalty is a one-way street.
4
At first glance this is how I read this headline: 'Jeff Sessions Is Forced Out as General Trump Installs Loyalist'
6
So the first priority is protecting Trump and there Trump organization. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a president who thought the priority, following an major election, or just anytime, was the good of the country? Infrastructure, health care, fair administration of justice, prison reform, working for peace abroad, affordable housing, environmental protection so our kids don’t get asthma and future generations can inhabit this earth.... so many priorities.
But no. The priority is protecting himself and the Trump Organization.
6
Kudos to the Department of Justice staff who graciously applauded Mr. Sessions as he exited the building. Trump will not be so lauded when he exits stage right.
66
I believe the House could pick up the Mueller investigation at their request and keep it going. Can any one verify this?
6
There are many ways to be dishonest. Waiting until after the votes were recorded to fire the Attorney General was one of them. Dishonest Don, continues to put himself above the country.
7
Sessions did exactly what Trump wanted in every single aspect of his job except for the recusal from the Russia investigation. If Trump supporters don't believe this, all they need do is read the statement from the ACLU pronouncing Sessions as the worst AG in modern history.
Furthermore, had Trump chosen any of the other potential candidates for AG, like Chris Christie, they too would have had to recuse themselves because you cannot oversee a criminal investigation where you are a potential witness because of the appearance of impropriety. But, Trump apparently believes he make any appearance he likes. He is the boss of his corporation, which is now the entire country.
At this point, he looks to be planning a slash and burn operation on the Mueller investigation. I guess we will find out if enough people in the Government have the courage to stand up to him. So far, the answer is no.
5
Andrew Napalitano (of all people) says that Whittaker is not legally qualified to serve as acting AG: (i) he was not Deputy AG, (ii) he was not already at DOJ in a Senate confirmed position, and (iii) the Senate is not in recess. He is therefore an illegal appointee.
This article should be updated to address the legality of the appointment.
14
Yes, I wish the Times with report on the legitimacy of that as well. What are the facts?
4
To replace a senate approved AG,the AG must leave because of ill health etc. NOT a firing.Matthew Whitaker is occupying the deputy AG position illegally. He has not been senate approved.He has spoken on the record of his negative opinions about the Mueller investigation which means he should recuse himself.Trump shows how guilty he is by appointing a man that wants to end the investigation and pushing a hopelessly unqualified SCOTUS that he found at the bottom of the trash heap of lawyers because he doesn't think a president should be investigated.Do ya think he's got something to hide??I would also love to have a look at how much justice Kennedy's bottom line perked up after suddenly retiring and if charges against his son for "funneling"$$ to trump have been dropped.There's a whole lotta meat on this bone.
11
I am so interested in who else will flee the sinking ship and who the captain will throw overboard now that the election is over and rough waters lie ahead.
2
President Trump committed obstruction in the Comey firing and he is doing it again in removing Sessions and threatening the Democratic leadership with retaliation should they pursue investigations in his personal, business, political and family matters, even though he must certainly understand the Dems could not do so without grounds for investigation. Defunding the Mulleur investigation would also rise to the standard of obstruction should there be evidence of wrong-doing and there apparently is.
4
It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. The perpetually angry elf can now go home and nurse his wounds and ponder the nature of justice.
1
Always finding the silver lining. :-)
"But Republicans in Congress appeared less concerned by the president’s move. Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who said in 2017 that there would be “holy hell to pay” if Mr. Trump fired his attorney general, offered no criticism of the president on Wednesday."
Another Republican to say words that seem to oppose Trump, but then become completely spineless (or worse, complicit) when he actually does the thing the person opposed.
Personally I don't care, Jeff Sessions is a bigot and my only concern is that he might somehow look better as a result of his time in the White House simply by not seeming as horrible as Trump. I don't expect his replacement to be any better in terms of justice than Sessions was.
2
As a Canadian, I'm shocked that a political staffer, even a high level staffer, a Chief of Staff, could be appointed as an acting federal Attorney General. As I haven't seen news about the appropriateness of this, am curious is this allowable under US federal law or is this questionable.
2
Beauregard got the Trump dump even being a loyalist to the king. And, for following the law, for once.
2
These are the actions of an innocent man?
6
How President draining the swamp and building confidence in the DOJ when selecting Matthew Whitaker who has ties to World Patent Marketing, that conned the public out of $26 million?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Whitaker_(politician)
3
January can't come soon enough!
4
This was way past due. Mr. Sessions should have been fired a long time ago, along with Rosenstein and Mueller. Investigations of crimes that should have been started over a year ago were just ignored. Laws apply to everyone!!
1
How could Sessions know he was going to recuse himself from the Russia investigation when it was only after he was in the AG office that it was determined that he had indeed lied to Congress about meeting with Russians during the campaign?
If he hadn't recused himself, he would have been called back for intense investigation. He saved his own skin by the recusal. He was kept on because of his agenda. Miller needed him for that.
Sessions was one of many in the campaign who met with Russians before Trump was elected. There's more to this than meets the eye. Maybe Sessions also wanted out before the Democrats start asking him questions too.
7
Haven't we gotten it by now? This is just Trump's latest tactic to distract us from his tax returns, which according to the Revenue Act of 1921, the House has every right to demand. They may reveal more than even Mueller knows.
3
@Sharon Carson
Sorry--that Revenue Act was 1924 -- 26 US Code 6103 Confidentiality and Disclosure
1
Let’s be clear in this. Trump and Republicans are treating Sessions who was a long term senior Senator and AG like a dirt not because there is a serious disagreement on policy nor his performance but his refusal to participate in an alleged crime.
Conservatives should be very proud of themselves.
5
At least it's now easier for Mueller to indict Sessions for lying about the "chats" with Kislyak that had slipped Sessions' mind. Sessions may even be involved in promising sanction relief for election help. We haven't seen the last of Sessions, except maybe in his perp walk.
5
Mr. Sessions, you are faced with performing the most important job in your life. Redeem yourself and spill the beans. Don't wait to write a book. Speak up now.
5
Once again, Mr. Trump displays his obliviousness to the mechanics of history. While it's true that Mr. Sessions's successor may fire Mr. Mueller and put an end to the current investigation, thus ending all hope of producing hard evidence of presidential involvement, Mr. Trump's dismissal of the Attorney General at this time is akin to an open admission that he is guilty of collusion, of conspiracy, and of lying about it. He has thereby put a seal on his legacy in the history books that is surely the exact opposite of what he so obviously and pitifully intends.
5
If Mr. Whitaker stops the Muller investigation, perhaps Mr. Muller can go to work for the House. He'll be doing the same thing he's doing now, only he'll be reporting to a new management team.
2
This is the only thing that matters right now. Ignore all of the controversy the White House is stirring up to cover up this story. THIS IS ALL THAT MATTERS. Trump is ending an investigation into his criminal dealings.
5
And so it begins! Whitaker`s credentials to be named is none. Oh wait; he does have one; a loyal Trump worshiper. Obviously the fix is now clearly in. Having a Democratic House now in play; the fangs and claws are out one day later. Anyone who watched the petulant man-child act yesterday in the press conference quickly realized Trump was seething at having been rebuked at the polls. So now someone had to pay a price. Time to throw another once loyal Trump puppet under the bus. The weird thing is Trump is never man enough to do it in person. Kelly or some other underling has to do the dirty work. Whitaker has not even been confirmed as A.G.; and yet Trump will use him to starve or block Mueller from ever letting the world know the TRUTH. Another sad day for democracy under this tyrant.
5
This is another opened and shut case of obstruction of justice by Trump to shut down investigators investigating his crimes. Congress needs to stand up for the laws of this country and stop letting him get away with breaking the law left and right. At what point can we consider those in power as guilty co-conspirators for doing absolutely nothing to stop this abuse of power?
7
@kay
How about from the first day when this criminal enterprise invaded WH.
They have been co-conspirators since day one.
They're standing ready to wipe out the fragments of our democracy from the face of the earth, as we speak.
3
A political bully is always emboldened by their own lies.
7
" shredding the traditional independence of the law enforcement agencies in seeking what appeared to be politically motivated prosecutions."
What, is this a joke line?? No better description of what the Obama administration did to Justice, the FBI and our Intelligence services, could be written!
In an unbiased world, these would be recognized as great crimes by Obama and prosecuted accordingly. No reasonable observer could possibly fail to see what an assault on our constitutional order this subversion of justice has been.
1
And yet. And yet, not one verifiable example of Obama’s “great crimes “. Only a well written “what about”.
3
Matthew G. Whitaker -- it will be interesting to see how deep he is willing to wade into this. Michael Cohen, who once expressed a willingness to take a bullet has made a deal and pleaded guilty, that should tell Whitaker something about where loyalty lies in terms of Trump, unless your name is Ivanka.
6
Imagine for just a second that a Clinton (either husband or wife) did this. Impeachment proceedings would be underway already!
8
Muller needs to get his findings off site before the new broom sweeps them away. The Trump loyalist will surely try that before the Dems take control of the House.
5
Now more than ever we need a full investigation by the new House (no right-wingers allowed) of this crooked lot.
2
While waiting for the Champions League highlights at the BBC, I've had the misfortune of watching this circus and this is what I saw. Trump is once again:
• Projecting -- when asked about the mass exodus of his WH staff (49% gone, the highest ever in all of US history) he said: "This is a tiring job. People are tired. The want to leave. They are very tired. Very tired." And even if I haven't heard these words, I can see the tiredness in his demeanor. Mouth-breathing, slugging through the prepared speech, eyes wandering towards nowhere as he tosses his word salad in the air during off-script moments.
• Cowardly -- and this is not about how he fired Jeff Sessions as we all know by now that he can't fire people face to face in real life, in scripted TV with directors and assistant directors yes, in real life, it is either via a tweet, an announcement on TV, or a henchman doing the firing, a very cowardly move as having 5 bone spurs when called to serve the US in a time of war. This time, Trump's cowardice was ordering a woman -- a woman! -- to grab the mic for him from a CNN reporter.
Trump's behavior is that of a cornered animal. He knows that there is no more space to run and it is just a matter of time before his criminality is exposed.
With Jeff Sessions gone, I hope the Lindsey Graham accepts the job the soonest -- so that I can watch how Trump will humiliate this self-confessed "Southern Belle" on international TV.
10
The prospect of scuttling the Mueller investigation is but one of the extremely troubling aspects of Trump's firing of Sessions.
The very day after they win control of the House, we see Trump threatening the Democrat controlled House if they perform their constitutionally mandated oversight duty. He vows a "warlike posture" if they attempt to investigate him, and specifically his finances.
And what does he threaten the Democrats with? A bludgeoning with the full force of partisan attack investigations from the Justice Department.
The very same day he makes those threats, Trump fires the Attorney General, and replaces him with Matthew Whitaker, a loyal yeoman who has publicly sworn fealty to Trump. Whitaker now has the ability and authority to execute on Trump's "war like posture".
As the Times so articulately reported in their exhaustive investigative piece, the modern Trump family business was built from the ground up by criminally defrauding the American people of almost a billion dollars. And that fraud was subsidized by low-income housing tax incentives to boot. All overseen by Donald J Trump.
Why would anyone think that Trump's criminal modus operandi has changed? With Whitaker, Trump now has a henchman to billy club the knees of anyone who dares to hold him to account.
14
Trump like to hire people he sees on TV even though he calls it fake news. Whitaker used to be a legal analyst on CNN. Someone said he told him that he wanted to have a forum on TV so he can audition for a job with Trump. That is why he came across as going against Mueller. Trump obviously saw him on CNN speaking about how to cut off Mueller's funding in a systematic way that would end the inquiry.
4
If Mueller's wings are clipped (or he is fired) and any attempts are made to quash information so far gathered, I sincerely hope somebody on his team puts his or her country first and leaks everything to the media.
9
Surely Sessions cannot be surprised by this.
His firing reminds me of the morality tale of the scorpion and the frog.
Despite his better judgment, a frog (Sessions) agrees to let a scorpion (Trump) ride on its back to get across a river. When the scorpion stings the frog during the swim the frog says, "Why did you do that? Now we're both going to die," and the scorpion replies, "It's in my nature."
10
This is sobering news, to put it mildly. I can barely stomach Sessions, but at least he maintained a semblance of independence.
I have a feeling today will go down in history. The question is: will it be remembered as the beginning of the end of Trump's assault on democracy? Or will it be remembered as one of the important milestones in the slow march towards dictatorship, a sort of US equivalent of the Reichstag fire?
6
A message to the DEMS....you now see there is no such thing as working with Trump. Go after him and go after him hard and while you're at it explain to the rest of the GOP that it's not going to end well for them. Trump supporters like Trump and that is it.
9
Show of hands: Who was surprised that 45 would do something to steal the limelight of losing the House (the "People's House" to be exact) and deflect from that loss and the probability he now will be under tight reigns, including finally getting a peek at those *elusive* tax returns (thereby nailing any question of Russian money)?
Nobody? Thought so....
4
Does the White House have closets big enough to hide the skeletons mounting up in the Trump administration?
5
Historians will add this chapter in "The History of the United States, Beginning to End".
6
Its happening in plain view-political power grab to taint the mission and purpose of the Department of Justice in order to protect self interest. From the article "Courts and Judges in Authoritarian Regimes" (Solomon 2007)..
"situations where a dominant leader or group faces a credible threat of losing hegemony and turns to the courts either to preserve power or to gain insurance against retaliation by new power groups. "
4
Whatever the reason he was not doing his job. This included investigating the legality of the Mueller investigation which is looking more and more like an illegal attempt to help Hillary win the presidential election.
@Don Seriously? I find it difficult to believe that you believe what you wrote.
2
@Don
Sounds like you use the same definition of "legal" as Trump. His definition, and therefore yours, hinges entirely on whether or not something is in his interest. There is no consideration of the law in Trump's assessment of legality. None.
You're okay with that, are you?
1
This nation is finished. Let’s not even pretend this is a democracy.
3
It is obvious to anyone who wants to be honest that Jeff Sessions made a mistake by completely recusing himself from the Russian investigation. He also made a mistake by making this decision before discussing it with the President, who is his boss.
Sessions should be an example to everyone who serves in government that actions do have consequences. Sessions could have recused himself, after consulting with the President, from specific parts of the investigation, but the blanket recusal was a mistake. If he felt he needed to recuse himself from the entire investigation, it would have been far better for everyone in the country, if Session had instead just resigned instead of recusing himself.
We The People elected Donald J. Trump as President of the United States, not Jeff Sessions. The Attorney General serves at the will and please of whomever the people elect as the President. The media wants to spin it as if the Attorney General is somehow independently elected in some other branch of government.
Sessions caused a lot of problems for our President, and his leaving was long overdue. It should have been by resignation instead of being fired, but Sessions has an ego bigger than the White House, which is not unexpected from a little man with a Napoleon complex.
21
@Jam77 Without having foreknowledge of exactly where the investigation would go, your suggestion really makes no sense. If links were established - as they well might be - between campaign finance and payments from foreign entities flowing into and then out of DJT organizations to the campaign fund, for instance. While seeming to be separate, in reality they are connected. Recusing himself from Russia interference but not from any campaign finance violations would not be not feasible or desirable.
Your second point is belied by the actual events of Watergate. Corruption by those who thought their job was to serve the president - rather than their country resulted in criminal charges and jail for AG John Mitchell.
And finally, it was the Electoral College, not We the People that elected DJT.
90
@Jam77 The Attorney General's job is to represent the United States. He or she is not the President's personal lawyer.
76
@Jam77 Read the Judiciary Act of 1789, which created the Office of the Attorney General, and you will find that none of the duties are to represent the President of the United States. The duties are too numerous to type here, but the first one is:
The principal duties of the Attorney General are to:
Represent the United States in legal matters.
Also read about the requirements of recusal. Jeff Sessions was obligated by law to recuse himself as he had a conflict of interest (was on Trump's campaign) specified as a reason an officer of the courts must recuse him/herself
Americans do not tolerate would-be monarchs or mob bosses who demand loyalty only to themselves
79
When Obama appointed, did the Times ever term the appointee "loyalist"?
2
There was no need to do so.
6
Why would an innocent man so concerned about being investigated?
7
@WTR
I presume you are innocent. Ever think of what an FBI investigation would do to your life?
I'm from Iowa, and a lot of folks don't even know who Matt Whitaker is.
6
@Charlie That's OK.
Trump doesn't know what soybeans are either.
6
This is much more serious than the firing of Comey. Trump is committing felony obstruction of justice before our eyes. Even if Whitaker, a partisan hack, does not make good on the threats that he has publicly made agains Mueller, his oversight of the investigation will have a chilling effect on potential witnesses to cooperate, testify truthfully, and strike plea deals. If Mueller's investigation has been rendered toothless, what motive do they have to cooperate? Trump's actions are in line with the mob clients of his mentor, Roy Cohn.
24
Since Trump has a pattern of accusing other people of things he did or beliefs that he holds himself, it follows that he lies when he says "no collusion".
The *proper* refrain to follow every mention of The Donald's name is "Lock him up!"
10
What is better for USA - spend all our time and energy the next two years on revenge politics OR work together to fix our immigration policies, improve our infrastructure and help working Americans?
2
The timing was very good. Right after the midterms which is a traditional time to clean house and after a period of time when nothing new was happening with the Mueller investigation. A Saturday night massacre it was not as much as the Democrats would like it to be. With the House committee chairmanships and the subpoena powers that go with them, they will give Trump everything they’ve got, but so far nothing but dry holes on Russian collusion. Papadopoulos was supposed to be the big link between Russian operatives and the Trump campaign. What did he get? A few weeks for lying to the FBI. Schiff better come up with something. Nadler and Pelosi, too, They’ll never get his tax returns. It’ll go to the Supreme Court, and Trump will win. Now it’s also time for Maxine to put her money where her mouth is and actually do something Obama never did about the banks. Wanna bet she comes up with nothing? Okay, Dems, let’s see you actually try to govern and not just resist, resist, resist.
1
The timing on Sessions' firing is ludicrous. Less than 24 hours after an election.
If Trump's temporary AG ends the Mueller investigation, Trump will have plainly obstructed justice, an impeachable offense.
9
Meanwhile, Republican citizens voted to reelect alleged criminals to Congress: Chris Collins (NY-27) and Duncan Hunter (CA-50).
No wonder there is no oversight from Congress. There is no oversight from the American people.
13
Good riddance, sessions has been a puppet of the Democrats since he started this job, trump should've done this or year ago
2
@There How was he a puppet of the Democrats? Other than recusing himself, which was legally appropriate, he enforced the Republican agenda with great vigor.
3
@There
How in Blazes can we expect an informed electorate when someone can make a statement like this...and believe it! Trump has won the "hearts and minds of the people"(remember how?)
It's not original. But it need saying, again and again by as many as possible. So here goes: American democracy is a frog in a pot of water being slowly brought to a boil by Mr. Trump and his party.
15
There's something else goimg on. Why fire Sessions now? DT could have fired him months ago. In fact, it was expected at any time back then. And he'll end the Mueller investigation before the new House leadership takes over. Why? He's scared for some reason.
10
Guilty is as guilty does.
2
I should think the man who seemed to get such a kick out of telling someone "You're fired," on a poorly watched and rated TV "reality" show, would want to actually deliver the real message in person. But, true to character, he seems not to have the fortitude to do so. He has his henchmen deliver the news to his toadies. I guess it's those darned heel-spurs that keep him from stepping up to the plate himself—I suspect a bit of spinelessness may be a large part of the problem, too.
Watching him in his news conference today was demoralizing. He isn’t even good enough in his role as statesman to be considered a pitiful excuse. I don’t care for the man and his politics, but he was so inept and unconvincing as he talked to the nation about how great he is that I actually pitied him. I was embarrassed for him. He didn’t convince me that he believed any of the drivel he delivered. I felt like I was watching an amateur actor auditioning for a bit-part in a poorly written screen-play that he realized would never reach the heights of getting the audience to suspend their disbelief.
We need to replace this joker. He's not even a decent comedian. So needful of respect and admiration, but so lacking in substance. So sad. There's just no there there.
10
Mr. Trump's desperate, cornered-man move to quash the investigation - before the new Congressional term starts and the exposure of truth is inexorable - screams his guilt (and his mind-bending arrogance). A huge, oceanic majority just screamed for checks on him, and he knows it. Between now and January he must NOT be allowed to use the levers of government to derail justice and avoid personal accountability. He is NOT a king and he is NOT above the law!
8
Before laying praise on Jeff Sessions for having recused himself from the Russia investigation remember this: he did so because he lied about having met with Russian officials. Most likely he was among those who colluded with the Russians to steal the 2016 election and he refused himself out of a sense of survival. Sessions is not an honorable man. He’s a racist Trump supporter just like the rest. He just happens to have been thrown under the bus now that his usefulness has ran its course, just like the rest.
11
Session seems a truly dreadful character to me, getting fired by Trump is his only laudable achievement of his career.
4
Better to install a loyalist than a dis-loyalist, no? Makes sense to me.
1
I simply don’t get how the president can put his own staff person in charge of an investigation against him.
5
How long before Robert Mueller indicts Trump and Whitaker for obstruction, conspiracy and perjury?
4
Trump's behavior is obscene. I can't believe that the GOP is just letting this happen. It's scary that more Republican senators have been elected. I expect that they have no scruples or conscious. They know they are getting good money on top of their salaries and they are set for life with health care. They will move on to lucrative jobs after they leave office. They have proven to the world that their pockets are the only thing that matters. We are in danger of losing our freedom, constitutional rights, etc.
7
The "acting" AG is not who he seems to be. Behind the Meme, Whitaker, is really Devin Nunez. Don't be fooled.
7
Whitaker fires Mueller? Schiff hires Mueller and entire Special Counsel to assist House Select Committee on Intelligence.
Mueller can then expand investigation to include Devon Nunez and Whitaker as cover up participants.
4
The Nation's AG has a whole FIVE years of experience as a United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa (June 15, 2004 – November 2009).
Lets not get someone too much experience . . .
3
I find myself wondering how far Mr. Trump would go if he managed to somehow nullify the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment. Taken to its logical extreme, what would constitute "citizenship"? What level of infraction or perceived transgression would I have to commit, what untoward question would I have to pose, to have my "press pass" yanked?
Nosy parkers need not apply?
2
I simply do not have the energy for this nonsense. I completely understand that many people are frustrated beyond belief by the behavior of both political parties. And I get that many of us are distrustful of MSM sources, albeit for different reasons, depending upon our beliefs. But after yet another ridiculously narcissistic and incoherent press conference, I am always left asking myself: How could Trump be anyone's guy--this weak, needy, egocentric, cowardly, incoherent blowhard--be anyone's "guy?" How does anyone think this mentally ill man-child is doing anything except for causing chaos and disorder in our political system and the world? And how can anyone, even sincere people on the far right of the political spectrum, respect Trump, or believe Trump has "got their back," in any way? And wait, now Trump is appointing a random attorney who has a man crush on him to be the next AG? And the GOP is okay with that? And it's okay that Trump just admitted he cannot do the job the American people elected him to do if the House continues its investigation? Did I hear that right today? And no one bats an eye? Because the entirety of the elite class is just that out, so rich that they think this is all spectacle, all sport-like entertainment for them to "report" on, night after night after night? I knew this was going to happen when Trump was elected. And I knew it would go on and on and on.
8
Whitaker will soon find out how fickle Trump's loyalty to his underlings are. He might want to keep his resignation letter updated as well.
3
They're not going to go quietly, folks. Get ready for a long, hard battle.
2
As Lindsey Graham demonstrates, the entire GOP has been bought and/or researched for dirt...and therefore, is between a rock and a hard place...and make no mistake, many in that party have simply abandoned democracy. Much more enticing to see what position they might be granted by Caesar in this new Roman Empire our trapped rat of a President is working to create.
6
The Special Counsel must have some devastation evidence
on Trump and the Russians, that Trump is jumping into
a panic mode of self destruction.
Trump cannot stop the evidence of the investigation,
even if he gets sycophants to be acting Attorney General.
Trump is on his way to resigning before he is indicted,
that is the reason he is acting in this suicide attack
upon the DOJ.
Trump is in meltdown.
3
I just signed up to attend the local Move On protest happening today. First time I’ve done this, but it is beyond time to get more involved. My vote doesn’t seem to count in this RED state. I can’t stand by and watch any longer. Please — everyone — look up your local protest and make a statement!
6
What is hard for many to believe is that Trump thinks we don’t know what he is doing.
4
If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, looks like a duck, guess what folks its a duck. Sessions didn't resign! Being Attorney General was Sessions life long dream job, he didn't want to leave. trump has said for a long Sessions was a dead man walking, it was just a matter of time. Sessions wasn't even allowed to finish out the week, two more lousy days. trump continues to show and prove he is totally unfit to be where he is . Yesterdays news conference was a joke, he (trump) is such a petty man, having to send a young female intern into the press core to take a microphone away from a reporter trump doesn't like. How sad. One day trump, unlike humpty dumpty, will fall off his high pedestal and no one will be able to put him back together. Let's hope not.
3
Anyone who thinks Whitaker will recuse himself, I've got a slightly used Trump steak to sell you.
Jeff Sessions will go down in history as one of the most spineless Attorney Generals in the history of the United States of America. He was a mop that President Trump literally used to wipe the floor with.
Mr. Sessions will be remembered as the man who enabled the persecution of the weak and defenseless, and turned a blind eye as young children were detained in cages. Compare the legacy of Jeff Sessions with that of Bobby Kennedy and you'll see of far we've fallen in 50 years.
1
@Ex New Yorker
I don't disagree, but let's not lose sight of the fact that Jeff Sessions is not the (main) bad guy here...
1
According to the Wall Street Journal, Whitaker has some really bad skeletons in his closet. He was acting board member of a company in Miami that was ripping people off to the tune of $26 million. The man has no idea what 'integrity" means.
And so it begins...Trump knows he's in danger, his face more clearly than ever is glowing with fear...the trapped animal fighting its way out of a tight corner...Democrats, and the American people, better move forcefully to capture this beast, or someone is going to get hurt, and Trump has shown time and time again that he knows how to avoid hurt.
The publishers must have been camped out at Jeff’s home waiting to sign a book deal.
2
Trump has no understanding of ethics, conflict of interest, nepotism or the Constitution!
2
Lindsey Graham is awaiting his closeup. So begins, Trump's Saturday Night Massacre. Trump doesn't get it. There was collusion and now there is obstruction and there will be impeachment.
1
@LongDistance
“This investigation is way past it’s time”.
Compared to what? Clinton’s stretches out longer because he told one lie. Trump and his minions potentially collaborated with a enemy of the US to throw an election.
1
The order of events that would make up what we now know as the Saturday Night Massacre (Oct. 20, 1973) were related to me the night before while having dinner at the home of Neil Currie, who was the Congressional Correspondent for Group W News at that time.
We had met five years before as Navy Journalists stationed at The Far East Network in Tokyo. Neil, the trusted English language news anchor heard throughout Japan via American Forces Radio, while I handled sports and a couple of late night rock shows.
Situated, it turned out, just a few blocks from Vice President Agnew's digs in Maryland, the telling of "war" stories over a better than average brandy as I recall, was interrupted by a call from Neil's editor. When he returned, Neil cut right to the chase. "Tomorrow morning, President Nixon is going to order the Attorney General to fire Archibald Cox. Elliot Richardson is going to refuse and resign. Nixon will then order William Ruckelshaus , Richardson's # 2 to fire Cox and HE is going to refuse to do so and offer his resignation which the president will accept. Robert Bork, the third guy in line at Justice, WILL carry out Nixon's order and fire Archibald Cox. "
Richard Nixon crossed some big time lines in the end, but he signed OSHA & the EPA into law. Produced major investment for Cancer Research, took Moynihan's advice on Welfare reform, went to China, signed two Detante deals with the Soviets and Title IX.
Donald Trump Couldn't carry Nixon's Jock!
1
good headline for a change, tells it like it is.
1
Nobody get to control a legal investigation against ones self. Maybe in Saudi Arabia or Russia. But not in America.
2
Here's obstruction of justice. Naked. With intent and without shame or fear of the consequences.
If this happens without consequences, this democracy is done. Full stop.
1
This is a very sad day for Sessions, but a disaster for American democracy, now seriously threatened by a power mad President. Sessions was all that stood between Trump and dictatorship. Like Trump often remarks; "believe me!"
Trump looked really rattled at the presser today. There must be something in Mueller's report that is hitting very close to home.
Even Jeff Sessions is a "good guy" now?
Hooda thunk it, eh?
I was just getting used to the idea of Reince Preibus being a "good guy" (though I never did figure out how to pronounce his name), and now I've got to think about Jeff Sessions?
1
Well, it's clear where this is headed. Unreal.
1
I feel sorry for Whitaker especially when he gets investigate by the new Democratic Party House. The let us see how tough Whitaker is.
Under normal circumstances (if we can remember what those are), perhaps investigating a U.S. president's family finances would qualify as witch hunty. However, when your family is on your campaign team and serves in the White House, it's simply an investigation into a U.S. president. Whitaker's career and legacy will be toast if he hinders the scope of this legitimate look into this administration's ties to foreign money and influence.
1
This headline is wrong....it should be, "Loyalist Sessions Is Forced Out as Attorney General as Trump Installs Toadie"
At some point we have to start calling things as they are if we're to be a nation of laws, and while the "toadie" term might be a stretch for your stylebook, the headline as configured simply doesn't raise the red flags with readers that under the circumstances it should, considering the disgraceful treatment of Sessions and the clearly inadequate appreciation of democracy and due process on the part of Whitaker.
NYT please look into a company Whitaker was a board member of called World Patent Marketing. They were a scam company where Whitaker actually threatened a customer. Look into ASAP, the Guardian has.
2
Trump now knows that with the House being in Democratic hands there will be an inquiry into his finances. He knows that Mueller will link Trump and the Republican Party to the manipulation of the 2016 election that put him in the White House. With this in mind he is starting to quash Muellers and anyones investigation. He is obstructing justice. He spews lies, innuendos and makes up whatever he wants. Some of the American people are naive enough,with the help of Fox News, to believe his rants.
Yeah, Trump distracts us from his election failure by committing another act of legal obstruction.
Trump's criminal behavior never ends! Nixon at least had some sense of shame. Trump has none. He is beyond redemption. We need to rev up the game. He must be forced from office, because he will never go out of a sense of duty to the nation. He drags us all into the sewer.
1
NPR article today:
"And separately, two years ago, after then-FBI Director James Comey announced he would not recommend charges against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server, Whitaker penned an opinion piece for USA Today headlined "I would indict Hillary Clinton."
"Director Comey's judgment was that "no reasonable prosecutor" would bring the case."
"I disagree," Whitaker wrote. "I believe myself to have been a reasonable prosecutor, and when the facts and evidence show a criminal violation has been committed, the individuals involved should not dictate whether the case is prosecuted."
So Trump or family could be implicated by Mueller to have violated the law, but Trump is dictating whether his case should be prosecuted by firing Comey, Sessions, McCabe, Strzok, Page, and staging the DOJ with his partisan loyalist Whitaker and Francisco. Both Whitaker and Francisco are set to protect the obstructer of Justice. Trump is using his power as president to dictate whether or not he can be prosecuted.
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/07/665331566/what-will-acting-attorney-general-matthew-whitaker-mean-for-the-mueller-inquiry
2
What did FDR warn us: 'All we have to fear; is Fear Itself'.....
I think we should trust in our laws; and we should not lose our
balance on this rocky ship of state....Trust in the best; not fear
the worst.....we have sailed through choppier waters heretofore.
A "loyalist"? The horror. Oh, wait, there was Holder, then there was Lynch. Not to mention Bobby Kennedy. And every other AG ever appointed, at the time of appointment.
So, it's tradition, mostly.
I will miss you American democracy.
1
Early in the 2016 campaign, Sessions must have seen that Trump embodied the hatreds that became part of Sessions' character, growing up in the deep south during the first half of the 20th century.
He worked, and helped and guided Trump to success, overlooking his massive flaws. And like Frankenstein's monster, Trump quickly demonstrated that he would escape anyone's ability to control him.
After two years of what had to be torturous work, Sessions has run out of options. He's done. The monster belongs to us now.
But I give Sessions credit. Recusing himself was the right thing to do. Not building the monster in the first place would have been a better thing to do but in hindsight that was too abstract a task for any frontline politician intent on partisan victory.
That leaves us with the monster...and the 40% of Americans who love him no matter what.
7
Once again the NYT is cooking up a nothing burger. Trump could have fired Mueller months ago. So why didn't he fire Mueller and stop the probe? Because Trump did nothing wrong. The acting attorney general when he made those statements about the Mueller probe was speaking the truth.
The probe has been a witch hunt on taxpayers' expense. The new acting attorney general is not going to mess with the Mueller probe after Mueller has spent over $5 million dollars doing the investigation so he will let it unfold.
However, here is the thing. Even if Mueller comes out and vindicate Trump you zombies are not going to believe him. You are going to say Mueller was forced to write the false narrative. With your narrow leftist thinking and the propaganda from the NYT on a daily basis you all will always be stuck in twilight zone so rest in peace.
And about the firing of Jeff Sessions he should have been fired months ago. Sessions was vehemently against discrimination of marijuana at the federal level. He was a weak and puny AG who allowed the deep state to set him up for the recusal of the Russian meddling probe.
Now may be the new acting AG can go after the really crooks like Hillary Clinton, Podesta and the rest of the democrat mob. Peace out.
6
34 indicted and 8 guilty or convicted is not a witch hunt it is the biggest campaign corruption in history. Bigger than watergate
And now that there is divided government it is going to get more attention
Get some popcorn and stop listening to propaganda on talk radio
@courther I guess if you are panic-stricken that 3,500 people are walking towards our border looking for a better life you might think $5 million was a lot of money (the Starr investigation of Whitewater cast $60 million).
There are Trump supporters who despite questionable behavior his entire adult life, from draft-dodging during Viet Nam to serial adultery to sketchy business practices that made it impossible for him to borrow any money in the US, these people treat him like the Messiah. Why they do is one of the great mysteries of our Nation's history.
@courther Another repetition of the “money” argument. Just a question in that regard: do you really believe that finding the truth about a significant foreign attack on the election integrity in this country is worth less than 1 or 2 weekend trips of the President to his own golf clubs...payed for by American taxpayers?
Firing Sessions is a step towards obstructing justice, as is promoting Whitaker above Rosenstein as acting AG. Any disagreement?
11
It sure seems like he is trying to shore up his fledgling autocracy. In addition to replacing Session with a loyalist, he mocked Republican candidates who dared not to seek his help and lost. What president mocks members of his own party after they lost? A would-be autocrat, that's who!
14
Please, Dems, just ignore this until Trump does something. Focus on positive movement for the people in this country and choosing our candidate for the presidency in 2020.
Use what happened on the 6th to move a reasonable agenda forward.
5
Thanks to the article authors for the good article
1
This has reached the nadir of the Trump presidency. Trump's new pawn (Whitaker) will be used to get the scoop straight from Mueller and run back to report all he knows, the same way his lackey Devin Nunes obediently reported to Trump what his"investigative" committee was finding. This is the very essence of giving the fox the key to the hen house. Once the sycophant Whitaker completes his task, Trump will kick him to the curb the same way he has dispatched countless others in his administration. That's the playbook of Donald Trump. Do his dirty work and then disappear.
4
Our Groper-in-Chief signals once again his contempt for an impartial Justice Department and his contempt for the American voter. He rightfully knew that American voters would not understand his firing Sessions, so he made sure they wouldn't get a chance to express their disapproval. If there were a Republican with a spine, they would announce any tampering with the Mueller investigation is an impeachable offense. But we only have "supine" Republicans in this country like Lindsey Graham.
3
Senate 51. Checkmate Pelosi. House nada. Mueller nada. 2020 Trump does another four.
3
The new AG may appoint a special counsel to really investigate the FBI and Clinton and Fusion GPS over the Russia collusion Hillary paid for. Plus her deleting all those emails that were under subpoena which is a federal offense.
No immunity coming.
1
won’t find anything this time either unless the real possessors of the missing emails (Roger Stone & Donnie Jr & Putin) bring them forward in a blaze of Fox News glory. His lordship trump is guilty of major crimes against the people of this country & will pay the price once out of office. Lock Them Up!
2
@Mr Chang Shih An Republicans paid the initial fees for the dossier or have you not heard the news in taiwan? Clinton is guilty only in the minds of the p.o.t. (party of trump) & his fawning base. She has been investigated by republicans & they found nothing. keep dreaming over there in limbo land.
2
I read this this morning on Market Watch. Really bad news for Whitaker. He is really dirty. ::::
Matthew Whitaker, appointed acting attorney general on Wednesday after Jeff Sessions resigned, was a paid advisory-board member of an invention-promotion company shut down by federal regulators last year as an alleged scam.
The Federal Trade Commission last year accused World Patent Marketing Inc., of Miami Beach, Fla., of scamming would-be inventors by charging them thousands of dollars to patent and promote their inventions. The company “provided almost no service in return” and threatened people who complained, the regulator said.
11
What's that sound? That, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of America's reign as leader of the Free World. Trump had his first real taste of Democracy yesterday, and he didn't like it one bit. he's going into overdrive now. If he turned the dial up to 11 while campaigning for Republicans in the midterms, he's about to turn it up to nine thousand. America has unleashed a monster beyond anything in the world's worst nightmares. He's gone from a Mussolini to a Pol Pot. The Great American Genocide is about to begin. Don't think for a second that being a loyal Republican or Trump voter will save you. Just as Stalin purged his closest allies and confidants, Trump's rabid paranoia frequently manifests in the destruction of his inner circle. Soon his buddies will have a lot more to worry about from him than being fired on Twitter.
5
I don't approve of Sessions in, oh, so many ways. But why is Trump such a coward about firing people? He got Kelly to do it? How is that respectful toward someone who has been more than respectful to him?
2
"Mr. Mueller would be going too far if he examined the Trump's family finances"? Never mind, the New York Times (and others I hope) will do it.
3
What is trump so afraid will be found out? Everyone knows he is on Russia-Saudi payroll. We just want to know how much a presidency goes for these days.
1
#1) House Democrats need to play everything three moves ahead with impeccable, undeniable integrity.
1A. Infrastructure Bill (that the President cannot accept)
2A. Rise in Minimum Wage Bill (that the President cannot accept)
#2) An ad-hoc committee on impeachment needs to be formed to study the articles of impeachment and gather all evidence available justifying impeachment (and there's more then enough of it). So what if this excludes House Republicans: Democrats were deliberately excluded from committee workings of the tax giveaway to the 1%. This committee needs to be put permanently on hold and it needs to be made clear to the President that this committee exists and is ready to go into overdrive if need be.
2A. Subpoena Trump's tax returns for the last two decades. When the backlash emanates from him, and it will, remind him of #2.
Congressional Republicans might consider getting on board, if only to save their own personal political careers.
2
Thank God that America, led by President Trump, has gotten rid of Mr. Sessions as Attorney General and as a sitting United States Senator. In two short years President Trump has effectively removed Mr. Sessions from the American scene and landscape. This can be looked upon as a positive Administrative accomplishment for our President.
2
No surprise here folks. It was fairly evident that Jeff Sessions was on his way out anyway. And Trump, being the reality TV master that he is, is using Session's resignation as part of a cover to divert attention away from the electoral news that Republicans lost the House.
And so it begins - Trump's full assault on the Mueller investigation, with prejudice.
Will the defenders of democracy, the rule of law, and the Constitution please stand up?
4
When Sessions is the good guy, we fundamentally are witnessing the perils of our democracy.
5
Upstaging the election.
3
Well timed Mr. Trump. With two months to act before a Democratic Congress comes to town, you wasted no time getting rid of Sessions so you could use that time wisely to assure Muller's investigation would come to a grinding halt!
Disgusting. You are so guilty of collusion, treason, and I have no doubt other crimes. Now, what happens...we are watching in 'real time' you use our countries processes, to assure your collusion is covered up! No way! I'll be happy to chip in for Muller's investigation to carry on!!!
5
The time for Mueller revelations has long past...No “Russia Scandal” can deter Trump before 2020...Trump slogs through anything...only the next election can stop Trump
@Starz N Barz Our flag representing the Union Of States and federal law representing that United States of America is fondly referred to as "Old Glory" and "The Stars And Stripes". Your tag here, Starz N Barz represents the confederacy which is Jeff Sessions and Mitch McConnell, Cornyn and Cotton. To the United States and the Union therein, the confederacy is an enemy.
I was very surprised to hear Trump mention bipartisanship. He is not remotely capable of bipartisanship, and I have no reason to believe he has any actual interest in it. He talked about a "war," and his behavior during the press conference today suggests that's what he'll try to engage in. Nothing I've seen since he began his campaign for this office would lead me to expect anything less. If he thinks there will be no ongoing investigation of Russian interference and no reckoning for those involved, then I think he is a fool.
4
The investigation is way past its time, it is just a political irritant to put check on the President. It is a waste of time and attention for the nation. Do we still believe Russians helped him win the election?
It looks like he won the mid-term election though. The Democrat party may add this election to the scope of the investigation too. What the heck...just do it.
How many have already been indicted? In the words of DJT himself. Innocent people don’t plead the 5th. Sit down for your interview, release your tax returns and be done. The GOP spent almost three years on some fake Benghazi scandal and not one indictment. Listen to us New Yorkers. You all elected a snake oil salesman who is about to tank our economy.
3
Not sure that anyone is really surprised Trump is probably the poorest loser out there he lost the house which he thought he was going to win with more seats. This is how he behaves and always will. Why change the habits of a lifetime spitting the dummy is his norm.
Don't forget that Sessions lied repeatedly about his own secret meetings with Russians during the long Trump campaign. Sessions was in the early meeting with Trump and George Papadopoulos when George told them the Russians had dirt on Hillary. According to George, Sessions ENCOURAGED him to explore the offered help from Russia, and he did so. That's conspiracy to defraud the US. Only Sessuons office says that he discouraged George-- everyone else says he told George to meet with the Russians.
Now Sessions is just a witness and very possibly a target of Mueller's investigation, with very dirty tracks leading directly to Russia.
And Whitaker? He ran a Koch brothers funded fake legal accountability group thats real function was to sue Hillary Clinton and file a million FOIA requests starting in 2014, all to hurt her poll numbers in advance of the 2016 election. He's a right-wing political partisan just like Kavanaigh, and already severely conflicted die to us very public bias and support for Don Jr's ridiculous cover story about the smoking gun June 9, 2016 Trump Tower mtg with all the Russians being about adoptions. Whitaker probably INVENTED the Don Jr cover story, which makes him possibly a target for obstruction of justice also.
This is an attempted political coup, from a terrified, guilty-as-sin Resident Chump. No amount of fantastical gaslighting can change it. Chump firing Sessions is just as guilty as when he fired Comey. Still ANOTHER count of Obstruction of Justice.
7
Darkness pervades the capital. A Saturday night massacre in slow motion. Seemingly no one to say the day. The Dems seeming helplessly neutered in the face of needing to force Republican party's hand on the Whitaker appointment. Rather than patriots and states people, they give us greed mongers, charlatans, cheaters, liars and jokers...con artists of the highest degree, if there were such a thing. Calling all adults to voice their outrage and insist on truth and justice and a return to civic civility all around.
6
I'm sorry to judge so harshly, but Trump essentially firing Sessions makes him look absolutely guilty of conspiring with Russia. Trump is not a thoughtful strategic thinker. He reacts spontaneously and reflexively like a bull in a China shop and simply and recklessly charges ahead without regard for the potential and actual ramifications of his words and deeds. He has really implicated himself this time like a Mafia Don killing a key witness. Trump simply looks totally guilty now as though he didn't care and was backed by physical force and willing to use it to hold power. This is a nightmare unfolding for America.
5
Since the whole "special counsel" investigation process was only created fairly recently (by Congress around 1970), I don't know how challenging it could be considered a "constitutional crisis".
1
God Bless Robert Mueller.
7
Usual Liberal hypocrisy. Two name: Eric Holder, Barrack Obama. Why wasn't Holder labeled an Obama loyalist....as though a President would name someone to his own cabinet that he didn't trust.
Sessions was an empty suit. He just wasn't up to the fight. And to recuse himself from overseeing the witch hunt that has gone on for 1 1/2 years with nothing to show for it would have riled any President. Think Holder would have done the same? Remember, this is the AG that stood with Obama and said outright they he would not enforce any law that he didn't find just.
Now Trump is going to someone who is loyal to him, and is a bit of a pit bull. And you can bet if the House Dems want to start even more Trump investigations, those who lead it are going to find themselves investigated as well. No telling what skeletons will be stumbled over.
1
This is the confederacy showing its weakness again. This president is not threatening war against the Democrats as he did pointing out the weakness of republicans before he took over their party, this president is threatening war against the strength of our Union Of States and the whole of federal law. Jeff Sessions is a confederate. This president is adjusting ranks.
9
Does the letter of resignation have something to do with Session's pension? How would things have been different if he hadn't written the letter?
8
Without a 2/3 majority in the Senate, Mueller's probe was never an existential threat to Trump. It has been, and continues to be, about shining light on things that were done in the dark. The Johnny Cash song, "God is Gonna Cut You Down" is apropos. We must play the long game. Some, like Trump and Roger Stone, are so old that they may be gone before justice can be done. Younger ones should be held fully to account when things finally change. It may take a few years, but the Republican's "Permanent Majority" (in the words on Newt Gingrich) will eventually pass and those who break the law now (undeclared foreign agents, campaign finance violations, tax cheats, obstruction of justice...) must be held to account then.
11
Where is the loyalty of. this new Attorney General? Is it to Trump first or to our Republic first? We need answers. Will they ever come?
13
@lftash
Whitaker is acting AG.
Loyalty is to Trump or he would not be appointed
@Louise
Then our Republic is really in "deep waters"
I keep wondering, where do Republicans in Congress draw the line? What will it take for them to become the checkers and balancers they are meant to be? The line between lawlessness and lawfulness keeps moving. This president clearly believes he is above laws. He keeps pushing harder against norms. Yesterday's press conference performance, the firing of Sessions, revoking Acosta's press pass and threatening Democrats who might investigate him all in one fell swoop of a day. Trump is panicking. God knows what Mueller has found. And Republican 'lawmakers' continue to sit on their useless little hands. What will it take for them to respond, to control this out of control president?
22
This is very disturbing for the USA. The modus operandi of SA’s recently deposed President Zuma was very similar to this move. By replacing competent civil servants with political loyalists, the USA will suffer massive damage to vital institutions which may take decades to repair. This is all done for the purpose of avoiding scrutiny whether that be tax or corruption or in your case, undisclosed cooperation with Russian rogues to undermine your democracy. It will be up to the Democrats in the House now to hold Trump to account since the Republicans seem to be protecting him, just like the ANC did with Zuma.
21
Now let the Democrats in the House continue this investigation. The Justice Department is already compromised. I can't get any worse.
13
@katherinekovach. They said “Cheer up, things could be worse: so I cheered up, sure enough things got worse...
Trump can only succeed in thwarting justice if the Republican Senate allows it.
The slate of Senate seats up for election in this midterm, where one third of the seats are exposed every two years, was as bad for Democrats as it could have been, and retention of the majority by the GOP was predicated upon this. But make no mistake, the next presidential election and the following, 2022 midterm will be entirely different. Retaking the majority in the Senate has always been viewed as a two-step process, and the behavior of Republicans in the Senate in the next two years will be key to the damage they will bring to their current, slim Senate majority.
The GOP majority there will focus upon filling judge vacancies with conservatives, and that is its right, but where they will suffer the consequences of bad behavior is if they continue to support Trump’s bad behavior, past, present and future. Whether the GOP relegates its entire congressional role to Democrats for the foreseeable future is in its hands and will be determined by voters in 2020 based upon the perception that its first priority is for party and agenda, as it has so repulsively been focused over the last decade, rather than the “nation” and its democratic process.
Republicans in the Senate, judged by the sweep of Democratic victories in this election, really no longer have a free hand and have been put on notice. The voters are finally paying attention. McConnell and his caucus would be wise to do the same.
9
Trump is acutely aware that he is now extremely vulnerable to being outed. He will do whatever he can to thwart the political and legal crisis that is now looming larger than ever.
11
It's hard to sympathize with Mr Sessions when he literally sold his soul to trump. He allowed trump to be his master. One can only hope that hindsight IS 20/20 for Mr Sessions!
12
Now what were you saying about fear mongering the other day? There is no reason to think this will have any impact on the Mueller investigation, which no doubt will go on for another two years. On the other hand, it is hard to imagine a less attractive AG than Sessions from the Democrat's perspective. He stands against virtually every program and reform they support and hold dear. How about toning it down a bit and suggesting some candidates that could gain bi-partisan support? That would be the smart move. Trump is ready to reach across the aisle right?
1
Why am I not surprised that you stand with proven Bush criminals and liars??
Robert Mueller Lying to Congress
Robert Mueller's forgotten surveillance crime spree
Coleen Rowley retired FBI Special Agent and former Minneapolis Division legal counsel of the FBI: No, Robert Mueller And James Comey Aren’t Heroes. The former FBI directors have acceded to numerous wrongful abuses of power in the post-9/11 era.
One good result from Tuesday was that Debbie Wasserman Schultz was reelected.
That rotten apple is still there, she spoils the entire barrel.
1
It's about time. Sessions was worthless. End the Mueller "witch hunt". Mueller has had two years to investigate "Russian collusion" and has come up with zero.
The evidence clearly shows the DNC, and Clinton paid for a fake "dossier" to use against Trump knowing Trump had done nothing wrong. The same DNC, and Clinton that got caught rigging the election against Sanders.
Mueller used that same fake dossier he knew was false to illegally obtain FISA warrants.
2
@F16MIG Killer The word “wrong” only exists in Trump’s vocabulary as a noun, not a concept. He has no interest or even awareness of morality.
1
@F16MIG Killer
Would you categorize Ken Starr's 5 year investigation of Clinton that resulted in no indictments as worthless?
Mueller has indicted Manafort, Papadopolous, Gates, Flynn, Pinedo, van der Zwaan, Kilimnik, Cohn, Patten, 12 Russian GRU officers, 13 Russian nationalists and three Russian companies.
Trump himself admitted he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation.
If Trump is innocent, as with Clinton after Starr's investigation, then no charges result. If Trump ends the Mueller investigation before it's completed, then it's clear proof of obstruction of justice and impeachment is warranted.
2
Session seems a really unpalatable character, his firing by Trump is the only laudable achievement of his career.
4
This is good news for at least one person: With Mr Whittaker likely to be appointed as Attorney General, it surely means that Lindsay Graham will be the next Defense Secretary when General Mattis resigns.
My bet is that Sean Hannity wll be tapped to replace General Kelly as Chief of Staff when that resignation is handed in next week. Fox News fans needn't worry: Mr Hannity will continue to do his nightly television show, but from the White House instead of a Fox studio.
14
Great tongue in cheek!
@Gp Capt Mandrake. Yes, from 45’s bedroom...
Almost laughable. Mueller doesn't have the ability to impeach. The House, and only the House can pass a bill of impeachment. To date Mueller's investigation has not produced any charges against Trump let alone citing and impeachable offense. There is nothing, come January, to stop the House from hiring Mueller and his team along with all their records (although we can be guaranteed that the new Attorney General will probably try to destroy all records - good luck with that).
I wonder where the master negotiator went. Perhaps he never existed in the first place.
5
And just like that, look who is back grabbing headlines!
Democrats should forget conciliatory gestures. Push hard on agenda to protect health care, reapportion tax cuts, protect consumers and strengthen and expand investigation into this potus. Focus on benefiting the public at large while exposing truths.
This president equates conciliation with weakness and if you for a moment thought he was being generous with his compliments to Pelosi, this firing should be a stark reminder of what his true intentions are.
If GOP had won, what do you think would have happened? The Senate majority is something most of us will regret for a long time through the judiciary. Time to reframe the laws to benefit the 99%.
8
How anyone can still have faith in our country is beyond me.
21
Can you imagine an American President in your lifetime talking to a well-known and respected news reporter like Trump did to Jim Acosta yesterday at the presidential news conference? And today Acosta's White House press credentials are pulled?
We need to pull Trump's White House credentials. Trump is going off the rails and we are treating it as the new normal and allowing him to continue on.
I don't think our Democracy is going to survive this man. I am not confident that the House will be able to check him. The USA is like a slow motion train wreck with Trump as the engineer and the rest of us, the citizens, the Justice Department, the US Constitution, our nuclear arsenal and our National Debt flying along behind him in those swaying cars. Now we learn that Mueller the brakeman may be tossed of the train as well. Pull Trump's credentials and throw him off the train...
Good luck to all of us.
39
We may feel that we have come out the other side of something, but we're still in it. The numbers in Congress have changed, but not enough, and the struggles aren't going to be much easier.
Trump intends to continue his autocratic rule from the White House, and in the unlikely event that his back is finally to the wall, we should not expect that he will disappear in a poof of sour smoke. No, he will fight, and it is bound to be brutal and dirty.
Short of his being arrested and led away in chains, he will continue to lie, threaten, crank out executive orders, pump up his base, and generally make as much trouble as he can.
Fire Mueller? Isn't that what he's been trying to do from the first moment Mueller was appointed?
8
At Trump’s presser yesterday he was specifically asked about whether he was getting rid of Sessions or anyone else and his response was after midterms, presidents often recycle people – as if this wasn’t a done deal.
By his standards, that’s almost truthful – unlike e.g. the outright lie that he has high approval among African Americans. The fake Fox poll he cites putting that at 40% is more like his overall approval rating in the population as a whole.
It was sad listening to someone so steeped in self-delusion.
14
Action, reaction. It's like watching a 7 year old take his toys away from another child because he didn't get his way.
18
In effect, we now have an Attorney General that was not confirmed by the Senate. One can only hope the rather cowardly GOP senators will prevail on Trump to appoint a new attorney general for confirmation before the acting AG takes any actions against Mueller or Rosenstein.
9
@Safe upon the solid rock. Your post begs the question as to how an appointed AG has the power to curtail any investigation since he was not affirmed by the Senate...
Take a deep breath and consider the heroic brilliance of Robert Swan Mueller, III. Not just his stellar education, but his service to our nation as FBI director and especially at war. He served with distinction in Vietnam, receiving the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals, the Purple Heart and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry as an officer in the Marine Corps. This man is focused, disciplined, smart, and a warrior. I rest confident. Donald is just a heel spur con artist no and match for Mr. Mueller.
26
This IS obstruction, pure and simple.
18
It should be mentioned in each story about Sessions that there was a real reason he recused himself from the Russian investigation! He lied during his confirmation hearings, or forgot to remember, that he'd met with Russians during the Trump campaign. Truth.
19
And so it begins. Now the serpent has begun to devour its loyalists and will begin using its second echelon (the members of which are all expendable) as pawns in its war with truth. How long before the serpent finds itself alone when the truth is revealed and the people sit in judgement. Remember, those that fail to heed the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.
10
“‘...It should end because it’s very bad for our country,’ he said.”
By “our country” Donald means Russia. And he’s right. The deeper the investigation goes the more we’re going to learn how his Russian handlers have stuck their noses into our affairs and how much of that constitutes an act of war. I have zero sympathy for Russia and I do hope at some point we get to teach them a lesson in the most painful way. I know that’s bad for Donald but that’s OK. What’s bad for Donald is good for America.
12
So the President who swore to defend and uphold the Constitution considers the Department of Justice an enemy institution - pretty troubling and suggests he has something(s) to hide.
13
There is sentiment is that Mr. Sessions somehow did the ‘honorable thing’ by recusing himself. If I can recall, he met with the Russians and did not disclose it. He recused to save himself from further exposure … and possible perjury investigations. Spill the beans, Mr. Sessions, you’re not as innocent as you seem.
15
I frankly don't understand how Trump can fire the Senate Confirmed Attorney General and replace him with a "temporary" acting AG of his choosing. Why would he ever have to appoint a permanent AG? Just keep the "acting" version as long as he pleases.
Certainly, if the AG position is vacated, it needs to be filled by a temporary appointment, but why doesn't the President have to follow the DOJ rules of succession, rather than picking a man who isn't in that chain of command.
Smells awfully fishy to me.
11
Never mind what everyone is saying to sound reasonable with the new Congress .
It’s all out war and everyone knows it.
Democrats should stop worrying about the judiciary and concentrate on removing Trump permanently from the political landscape.
His presence is not a politically issue. It’s a moral issue drowning in criminality.
Our motivation should be to right the country ethically so we all, both Republicans and Democrats, can move forward holding our heads high with pride in being an American!
7
Has Trump wiggled through any legal loopholes by forcing Sessions to resign, versus terminating his employment directly?
3
Trump's move now that a Democratic Congress is a reality. The Congress can make impeachment and/or investigation noises and Trump will fire Mueller. However, if the Congress plays nice with him, he'll work with them on their agenda. Tempting, I'm sure. However, if laws were broken by Trump, he needs to be held accountable. The country - or at least me - is tired of political white collar criminals that rob tax-paying, law-abiding, regular citizens of millions of dollars and get off scott free.
5
While Mr. Whitaker was so careful to layout his tactics to starve the Mueller investigation of money as a means to end the investigation, it's no wonder that trump chose him after that great [job] interview on CNN.
What concerns me most? That there are men and women who are absolutely ready to politicize government roles in order to settle scores and use their power to their own gain.
And they do it "in your face" with all the force and hubris of school yard bullies. They know it's wrong and they take special pleasure in that fact alone as they grin at you, knowing the GOP will not hold any of them accountable - making the GOP equally complicit.
Who's getting bullied?
Blacks, Muslims, Mexicans, low income wage earners, uneducated, women, and children, to name a few.
Whitaker may not terminate Mueller - firing Mueller et. al. is not the only way to terminate Mueller. Instead, Whitaker can take Mueller's report and either deep-six the report or redact it so heavily, it would be unreadable and unrecognizable. trump could then say thousand more times, "see, no collusion" a the public would never know the truth, but trump's base, would be buoyed.
A lot can happen in the next 54 days.
Stay tuned. News at 10. Film at 11.
5
1. Democrats win House
2. Democrats mention that now that they've won the House, they'll be able to investigate Trump's financial dealings
3. Trump panics
4. Trump calls Bannon, Hannity or Putin (or all three) for advice
5. Trump fires Sessions
6. Trump installs some lower staff member person other than Deputy AG who is on the record of wanting to end Mueller investigation, hoping that no one realizes how blatantly corrupt the whole maneuver is, especially given the timing
Got it.
10
Hands-off the Mueller investigation Mr. Whitaker! Actually the Democrats should hope that Trump is still around for 2020 as a candidate, that will definitely finish off the GOP!
2
The firing of Jeff Sessions is unacceptable. For those who are interested there are national protests all over the country at 5 pm tomorrow to protest this latest presidential overstep.
2
Lights, camera, action!
The reality star turned President don't lend little to our imaginations in this final episodes of the 2nd season. Making sure to keep the spotlight fixed to himself, leaving little attention to the rest of the cast and protagonists of the show to revel in his defeat. Tearing up any preconceived scripts for presidentiallity (as always). All with an increasing level of drama leading up to the crescendo of this season's bloody wedding episode.
All well knowing that the carnage must take place before the new producers take control of the show and the next season's budget when it premiers on January 3rd.
2
It’s time,I think, for Charlie Chaplin’s THE GREAT DICTATOR to be re-released. Trump may model his manner on Jack Oakey’s character in that movie, but he seems more and more to fantasize himself as the Great Dictator. Satire may not be able to stop him, but laughing at him could be good therapy for the rest of us until a more certain remedy comes along.
4
Loyalist. Against all challengers. It's what Trump wanted in Comey, in Sessions and a few other key figures. In his twisted mind, the president makes the rules and is above the law. This is why he admires authoritarians like Putin and Erdogan. Sessions, in spite of many things we do not like about him, did the right thing with his recusal. And Trump never forgave him that "disloyalty."
With the Senate in his pocket, even more so now, and a stacked, stolen Supreme Court (where in the Consititution, so touted by patriots, is there language which prohibits a president in his final year in office from nominating and installing a Supreme Court Justice?), along with a loyalist who will deflect or bury a serious ethics investigation, we have entered a period in which there is true danger to our democratic republic.
6
Just a point of information:
When it comes to scams, looting, and exploiting, it takes one to know one:
"Trump's acting attorney general was part of firm US accused of vast scam: Matthew Whitaker sat on advisory board of World Patent Marketing, which was ordered to pay $26M settlement in May" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/07/matthew-whitaker-trump-attorney-general-us-firm
8
The Justice Department prides itself on its independence.
As a "loyalist" Matthew Whitaker can't assume authority over the Russian probe. In August 2017 he warned in an op-ed for CNN that Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s finances would be “going too far”. He also defended Trump Jr. for holding the ominous meeting with Russian officials at Trump Tower in June 2016, to get dirt on Hillary Clinton.
Trump is desperate to close the investigation. But he should see by now – given the voters' verdict on two days ago – that most Americans won’t let him do so.
In fact, Jeff Sessions may turn his tables on him. Mueller is said to be looking into Trump’s statements seeking to fire Sessions or force his resignation in an effort to determine whether those acts are part of a pattern of attempted obstruction of justice.
Earlier this year, Mueller’s team questioned witnesses about Trump’s private comments and state of mind in late July and early August of last year, around the time he belittled his “beleaguered” attorney general on Twitter.
Trump’s goal to oust Sessions so he could replace him with someone who would take control of the investigation will only backfire.
4
Given posters here do not seem to be aware, but the special counsel law was changed after the Clinton impeachment debacle because of overreach. Mueller has had 2 years to complete his investigation and has not provided one iota of evidence that Trump colluded with Russians (the point of the whole investigation). Time to wrap it up.
Vintage Trump: he wants to deflect from the loss of the House by changing the subject to the firing of Sessions. But what is even worse on this day: how he treated the journalists during the press conference. So incredibly condescending. If his definition of good journalism is news anchors jumping onto a podium at a campaign rally, well then there is little hope for America - the country is slowly becoming a third world country. But everybody in America should be proud of people like Acosta who ask the tough questions.
10
As I have stated here before, Sessions in now in a position to be Brutus and stick the last knife in Trump. Only time will tell when this will happen, but it will happen.
5
Let' s remember he's a temp, he is not king. We'll get through this because that's who we are.
And in the coming years fewer will deny ever voting for trump just like in the years following Nixon's landslide.
4
@Bill
No. The future is far darker. Republicans have gerrymandered and Electoral Colleged their way here. Republicans have lied and fear mongered for decades. That is over now. It is now a fact that there will be no penalty for the tyranny of the minority. It will now require violence and tremendous upheaval to remove the fascists from power.
They might deny voting for Trump, but only after our country lies in ruins.
As history proved, Trump insists on loyal people, but they seem to be prone to corruption or averse to law and moral conduct. I wonder if Mr. Whittaker was picked for these possible traits.
7
Holder and Lynch did neverything that Obama wanted. What cant Trump have the same.
1
@Jim Obama is no longer President. Bringing up his name into this discussion is ridiculously irrelevant.
About time! Sessions only cared about a crack down on cannabis! If he won't do his job get someone that will!
I’ve said this before, Trump is a bully and a coward and will not fire Mueller. When bullies are challenged they slink away. Trump is way out of Muellers league.
8
May Jeff Sessions find a pleasant place to retire ... fast !
Can't forget he says that 2 marijuana tickets from police, equals a felony, and should result in equivalent punishment. Somehow I don't feel that's exactly what a felony level punishment was established for.
Meanwhile, as I treat people with addictions, we know that there is a 25-35% decrease in the rate of overdoses, from opioids, in states where marijuana is legal.
We need an Amendment to the Constitutio that says that when people are being paid by the government, which means we taxpayers are paying, their statements shall be based upon scientifically based evidence all the time, and not just when they feel like it.
Do we believe in science or not ? Let's have a revolution based on that. I never imagined, until Trump-time, we would be here.
3
Trump will not curtail the investigation, either directly or through his surrogate. As there was no collusion, Mueller - whom all, including the President, agree to be a man of impeccable integrity - will find none, and the President's name will be cleared. Surely that, for this President, is a more desirable outcome than a prematurely closed investigation which might, in some more cynical souls, engender the suspicion that he stopped it lest some of his lesser angels be exposed.
Trump recognizes no moral, political or strategic commitments. He feels free to pursue objectives without regard to the effect on allies and the world. He has no sense of responsibility to anything beyond himself.
Trump needs to be told, through the law, that he cannot use the Attorney General's office to stop or hinder the special counsel investigation into Russian influences on his administration.
Congress should enact legislation preventing Trump from infringing on the special council's investigation into Russian influences in the election, and Russian influences on Trump.
Is it money? Well, Trump sure enjoys renting his hotels to foreign embassies. The embassy of Azerbaijan co-hosted a Hanukkah party in the Washington D.C. Trump International Hotel’s elegant Lincoln Library, with a roster of guests that included Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak who has become notorious this spring for meeting with several Trump Administration officials. Imagine how many such rentals have occurred in hotels, condos, etc. that Trump owns or profits from across the world over the past two years...
What other levers does Russia hold over Trump?
Director Mueller's team should be allowed to continue unimpeded until all facts are laid bare on Russian influences into Trump's presidency.
7
"..when everybody sees what’s going on in the Justice Department.." said the New York City liar about the multiple campaign insiders pleading guilty and now cooperating.
We'll see who obstructs this investigation, who prevents the release of findings, and who plays the high stakes game of questioning the integrity of Robert Mueller.
The lead-up to holding The President accountable for any misdeeds, if any, has been the reporting of:
the truth the Garland nomination,
the truth about pre-existing conditions, and
the truth about the temporary (wage earners') tax cut vs the permanent (corporate) tax cut and its associated national debt.
The nation witnessed COUNTLESS lies from Donald Trump, complicity from Republican leadership, and silence from its membership. Squawking from Fox News and from people wrapped in flags will also be recorded for all posterity.
Americans will NOT be denied the performance of oversight duties by Congress and the Supreme Court, if Mueller gets fired, his investigation compromised, or his findings withheld.
3
Consider the facts....................
Trump is being investigated for possible collusion with Russians in his campaign, maybe beyond. Many involved in the campaign were indicted. Sessions was the first Congressional supporter of Trump who participated early on in the campaign and failed to disclose contact with a Russian Ambassador. Congressional colleagues covered up.
Senator Sessions was then appointed Attorney General who went on to recuse himself from the Russian investigation by Mueller. Trump was enraged by his recusel openly stating his desire for Sessions to be "Loyal", with all it's meaning.
Trump has probably held onto Sessions to avoid appearing guilty by virtue of sabotaging the investigation.
The day after the big turnout for the hotly portrayed election, Trump asked for Sessions' resignation that was given. Why didn't Trump ask for the resignation before the election? Because it would have swayed voters.
Now Trump has managed to hold onto the Senate, the Executive and the Judicial branches. He meets with the Russian President Putin this coming weekend after years of denying their interference in the face of irrefutable proof.
There are no major issues to discus with Putin so frequently so why was the meeting scheduled for just days after the election?
Trump now appears exceedingly openly guilty of conspiracy with Russia to me.
Trump acts reflexively and spontaneously without considering his actions. He leaves a bright trail.
5
Is there a rule on how this works? Shouldn't the Deputy assume the duties? That is why Sally Yates was there.
2
There can't be a more obvious constitutional failing, if separation of powers means anything, than allowing the President to nominate those ultimately in charge of investigations if his conduct.
4
It appears that most of the people who were appointed by the President did not agree with him on some core issues concerning the nation.Then why did they accept the appoinment only to be sacked?Would it be enough to say that they have not known Mr Trump as the President.Moreover Mr Trump has already completed almost two years in office and has a majority in the Senate.Will it be possible to impeach him if it is decided by the power that be.
1
The system needs to have fundamental checks and balances, to protect citizens no matter who is in power.
I would put it to those who support Trump currently, imagine if it were the reverse: imagine that those you disagree with are acting like despots - wouldn’t you want to have checks in place?
If Trump is as innocent as he claims, and has nothing to hide, as he also claims, why would he not just let the inquiry proceed to its natural end? Instead he seems to be throwing up as many roadblocks as possible, which certainly looks more like a defensive play.
3
"replacing him with a loyalist who has echoed the president’s complaints about the special counsel investigation into Russia’s election interference and will now take charge of the inquiry."
No problem; Whitaker has multiple conflicts of interest: he ran the campaign for now-Mueller witness Sam Clovis, he hired Papadopoulos, & he has already legislated publicly the legality of Mueller's span of investigation.
So Whitaker must recuse himself now.
4
Deputy AG and now acting AG Whittaker must recuse himself from overseeing the Mueller led Russian interference investigation because he was once the Federal Prosecutor in Iowa where corn is king and the center of the Ethanol industry. The alcohol is a significant part of the gasoline in America. There are indications that Trump may be somehow involved in the Fossil Fuels industry as he has made many moves to protect and promote that industry. Any good prosecutor such as Mueller might be, would have looked at that activity.
1
I'm getting this feeling that maybe the investigation into trump is taking so long, because Mueller keeps finding more material. I feel like he's uncovering things he never set out to find. My main intrigue, into what can only be described as a bad reality show, is why they are trying to curb an investigation into other illegal things other than Russia? Shouldn't any possible illegalities that are discovered, be considered important? No matter what side of politics one sits on? I would have thought, the rule of law, is the rule of law. Full Stop.
3
I wonder if, when Whitaker signed up for this assignment, he thought he would be dealing with a Republican House.
While it's conceivable he would do whatever Trump tells him to do, House Democrats have already made clear that almost anything Whittaker does to impede or limit Mueller will be viewed as obstruction by him and investigated. He would be questioned about attempted obstruction by Trump. That would be the de facto beginning of impeachment proceedings.
Mueller could also be called to testify in the House as to any attempts at obstruction. The House Democrats are ready for a fight.
2
I don't think the House should focus on investigating Trump et al. Let Mueller do his job, but make it clear that if he is fired or impeded he will go to work for the House and the investigation will simply move from the DOJ to the Capitol.
2
Mueller has been planning for this day for a long time. He is ready to dump pallets of investigative research and legal conclusions at any moment. There will be a cut off date, either his or Trump's, it surely Mueller is ready for it anytime it comes. Sure, the longer he has to work, the more comprehensive his take down, but I am only concerned his delivery trucks will be blocked from unloading those pallets at the congressional loading dock.
3
If Trump's best efforts to turn the midterm elections into a referendum on him couldn't prevent the loss of the House of Representatives, the desperate move of removing Jeff Sessions from the AG and replacing him by Mathew Whitaker will hardly help him getting rid of the Russia inquiry which is likely to haunt him for rest of his tenure, with more chances of facing new extra inquiries about his corruption scandals by the newly constituted Democratic party controlled House of Representatives.
5
When I consider all the damage Mr. Sessions has done to the Justice Department and its mission--especially in upholding civil rights investigations and the rule of law--I'm not sorry he's been forced to resign. He's now experiencing what it's like to be a Trump casualty.
5
Why now? Simple, the election didn’t go his way. Across the country more people didn’t vote for Republicans, which means they didn’t vote for him.
It’s just Trump changing the focus off the Republican losses.
6
The Democrats should take a lesson from Winston Churchill from his famous speech (we shall fight on the seas and oceans).
However with Trump and the Republicans , the Democrats speech should read:
We shall fight them in the gutters, in the sewers, and in Congress and in the Senate. We shall not give up until we have regained the presidency from this vile man masquerading as a president, and his party that pretends to be for the people.........
55
Somehow it doesn’t have the same ring as the original. Maybe it’s because Churchill was more than just a partisan but was speaking for every Briton.
1
@Ed
Hi Ed, I tried. I also agree about Churchill "speaking for every Briton". Trump speaks for the rich, white, and uneducated, and also only for Republicans. The other non-Republicans simply do not exist in his pea-sized brain!
Trump can make even Jeff Sessions look ethical. Well no matter, I expect the House to look into how the Trump family is enriching itself during this presidency.
At least we now have a "former college football player at the helm, because I mean, what higher qualification for Attorney General could there be?
60
I don’t like this either, but it’s disingenuous to ignore Whitaker’s time as Iowa US Attorney as a qualifier. Of course, we all know that his primary qualification as USAG for Drumpf is neither football nor law experience in Iowa, but his position on the Mueller investigation.
1
Who really cares about Mr Trump's Drama, he can do what ever so long as they don't brake the law in any shape or form. He is only got a short time in the office anyway. And if any law is broken they will pay the price . Who ever wants to be a pawn let him be, but just don't break the law or conceal it. Be Wise.
7
Would it qualify as breaking or concealing the law for Whitaker to restrict or defund Mueller’s work?
By tomorrow morning, Acting Attorney General Whitaker will have ended Mueller's budget money, and ordered Mueller to turn over all Investigative Documents in his possession.
When January 3rd rolls around, there won't be anything left for the Democrats to investigate.
It will all be shredded and erased, just like Oliver North and Rosemary Woods did, years ago.
9
@John Doe They can shred whatever they want. There’s always Print to PDF and there’s more than one storage option in the cloud. Mr. Mueller can use my iCloud Drive if he needs a place to store any documents. I can buy more storage for him if needed.
3
@John Doe
John, Rosemary Woods was Nixon's privately protective secretary.
Fawn Hall (with her Farah Fawcett hair-do) was Oli North's. She broke all known records for shredding efficiency. The whole building was swirling with confetti...She was the "John Henry" of shredders.
I think I read.
1
That is obstruction of justice and would put Whitaker in jail.
2
Finally, Trump will get someone who will ignore his obligations to uphold the law and do as Trump bids. It is about time, his supporters were getting worried.
16
A. How long can an Acting US AG serve?
B. Will the Senate consent to Whitaker as AG without insisting that he commit to not firing Mueller or impeding the investigation?
C. If Whitaker agrees to not limiting Mueller's investigation and breaks the agreement, what can/will the Senate do?
9
@Inkblot
A. About 7 months
B. Unknown but unlikely
C. Nuttin?
A. 210 days according to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act
B. The obedient Senate majority would confirm an obviously biased Whitaker over Democrats ineffectual objections.
C. Drumpf could fire him (hah!) and/or Congress would refer the matter to the FBI if he lied about it under oath.
1
Sure, I'd like to see his taxes too. But I never understood why it's thought that his taxes will reveal anything. His taxes will be whitewashed, polished and smelling of roses. It's the money not showing in his taxes, the connections, the laundering and the dirty deals that don't appear on a tax return that will reveal what this guy has been up to for decades. As far as I can guess, that's what Mueller is chasing. The taxes will tell us nothing.
22
@CLM
The taxes will tell us that he isn't a billionaire and that he is (was) living on borrowed money.
I'm pretty sure his investors have already gotten their return on their investment and he no longer has to borrow money.
That's probably in there too.
18
Loyalist, that word should never be attached to a Justice department employee. They are here to support and enforce our laws not the whims of a crying pretend King. Whitaker will need to understand his place, he is only acting Attorney General. If things do go south and Congress does not act immediately, then Congress loses credibility and we can enact our Constitutional clause of disbanding a Congress that no longer represents any of us. The GOP did not learn the lesson dished out yesterday, corruption is no longer a cow we are satisfied to feed. The first law to enact is for appointees such as the AG will no longer be part of Presidential power. One step at a time and one fight at a time, we will come back.
10
In his resignation letter, Mr Sessions wrote that he worked "to support the fundamental legal processes that are the foundation of justice". And that under his leadership the DoJ has "restored and upheld the rule of law - a glorious tradition that each of us has a responsibility to safeguard".
Say what you want about the ex-AG, but these statements coupled with his decision to recuse himself, speak volumes about this man's steadfast commitment to the rule of law, and its EQUAL application to ALL Americans.
The question then is this: Is America willing to support a President that gives them what they want regardless of his/her many personal faults and transgressions?
What comes first? Self-preservation or one's morals?
Self-preservation, you say?
However, today's politics shapes tomorrow's law. And politics almost always involves drawing on one's moral compass.
If left unchecked, the low moral values of a leader will reflect on his government's policies, and eventually laws. And these laws will eventually affect all - cronyism, discrimination, health care, taxation, etc - it's just a question of time.
Just take a look at the recent political upheavings of Malaysia - up until this year, a democracy in name but ruled by a political elite. It took 60 years for the people to finally voice/vote that enough was enough.
60 years is a long time for an awakening, but for some, that's plenty of time to milk the policies/laws of today and let future generations worry about today's votes.
5
With Sessions no longer in office he can now be subpoenaed by Mueller, and executive privilege might not be as easily invoked, if the questions asked are cleverly crafted.
His willingness to spill some beans -- given Trump's having put him in jeopardy by involving him with the Russians and making him lie (er, "forget") and then repeatedly raking him over the coals -- remains to be seen.
The House judiciary committee, in closed session, will also be able to dig. Without Nunes blocking disclosures, we may also finally find out what has been known by the House but kept from the public until now.
Let the games begin. Or as the founding fathers called it: checks and balances. It's been awhile since the federal govt. was either checked or balanced. Still a ways to go.
15
Makes a lot of sense. This election has shown that this Republican party is the party of Trump. With the Senate majority and the majority of the Supreme Court securely behind him, he now uses the remaining months of a Republican House majority to start his Wednesday morning massacre. Except, it won't be a massacre, as the new guy in Justice is very much his guy, and will only ask how high and how often when Trump says jump. Could well be the constitutional crisis we've been waiting for, except it won't come to a head for a long time.
8
Never resign under pressure, make your employer fire you. Preserve your rights for wrongful termination and other matters. Sessions may not have any rights but most other people do.
6
By firing Jeff Sessions, his Attorney General, Mr. Trump has tossed the first stone. With that he has launched a prolonged battle with the new Democratic House. All his misdeeds so far carefully hidden from the public will now start coming out one by one. He will lean more and more on the loyalty of his appointees to cover up.
His confrontational press conference today was just the trailer.
17
Won't it be easy for Trump to get Whitaker confirmed?
Though the Times reports that the Republicans picked up 2 seats in the Senate, they actually picked up 3 (Florida, Indiana, Missouri, and North Dakota, minus Nevada). Like it or not, that makes confirmation of any appointee a slam dunk, even if no Democrat votes for him or her.
@MyThreeCents
"Won't it be easy for Trump to get Whitaker confirmed?"
Maybe so. He is after all a Tight Ended College Football star and that seems to carry some prestige with the knuckle heads in charge, or anyone else shallow enough to like football.
Trump is about ready to decommission Mr. Muller’s investigation. The plan A for Mr. Muller’s investigation to survive did not materialize as the Republican Party did not bring the legislative power to protect Mr. Muller. Now the plan B for Mr. Muller is a simple one. Begin investigating Matt Whitaker for immediately on the Russian probe and on the Obstruction of Justice issues. Once he is under investigation, he cannot fire or stop Mr. Muller.
It is important that appropriate steps are taken to protect Mr. Muller until he and his team delivers the report to the people of this country.
7
If Trump can bury Mueller’s report and keep it from Congress citing “executive privilege,” the entire setup is flawed.
It’s one thing not to impeach and/or remove a president. It’s quite another to hide the truth from the people.
6
@Tell the Truth
But the thing is, the purloined report will burn a hole in everybody's mind and will find it's way to freedom.
Maybe?
If Whitaker doesn't recuse himself, he should know that the American citizens will demand every single detail of what is going on and it could be career ending if there is any obstruction going on with his position.
13
get your signs ready; it's time to march again and demand protection of the Mueller and the investigation. Call your senators and demand a bill to protect the Mueller investigation. Trump cannot get away with this obstruction of justice. His new AG will be guilty of the same if he follows Trump's orders.
13
Whitaker has previously suggested that he could undermine the investigation without firing Mueller by simply cutting the budget to near zero.
In that very Trumpian scenario, I suggest Mr. Mueller start a kickstarter campaign that would easily raise $100 million in a New York minute.
634
Brilliant. Let’s do it anyway.
19
@Basal Hard to imagine Mr. Trump's 5 justices allowing that.
6
If only Mueller were allowed to fund his investigation with pocket money!
9
Oh boy am I happy we have the house, subpoena powers for tax documents and other information, and the ability to call investigations and compel individuals to testify under penalty of perjury.
All we had before was Mueller, and a bet on Sessions’ integrity (questionable, sorry). And we still have Mueller for now.
Sorry, Donnie, enjoy the rest of your presidency with your financial dealings under public investigation and your “loyal” associates being dragged before Congress.
10
Once again, our President has come up with a Page One announcement -- he can't live without the spotlight on him -- and the fact that everybody is paying attention to him now lessens the degree of attention being paid to election results that he cannot have been very happy with.
8
Whitaker should be reminded that even HE could be subject to investigation for
obstruction of justice
after his temporary stint as acting AG.
No one is above the law... not even the (acting) Attorney General.
Mind your steps Mr Whitaker. The country and your future career are watching with great concern!
16
Liberals should be celebrating, secretly if they must.
Sessions was very tough on enforcing immigration laws. This is what linked him to Trump from the start.
His forced resignation probably indicates that establishment Republicans have consolidated their grip over Trump. Establishment Republicans love open borders because of the endless supply of low wage labor.
This means that no wall will ever be built, only ineffective border security measures will be approved, amnesty will be granted to 22 million people, and without enforcement of immigration laws, the first of the next 22 million will be arriving. Democrats should be cheering.
I supported Trump primarily because of his promise to actually enforce immigration law. I mean, I certainly didn’t support him because of his eloquence, grace, and calm demeanor. :-)
If he capitulates to the establishment Republicans on immigration, then I might as well have voted for Jeb!. If Trump doesn’t deliver on any of his immigration promises, he had better announce now that he isn’t running in 2020, because his base will evaporate overnight.
4
Whitaker wrote his opinions questioning the Mueller investigation in August of 2017. He was then hired as Sessions’s deputy in October of 2017. Now he is acting Attorney General. Whose idea was it to hire Whitaker as deputy to the AG? Seems worth investigating as possible obstruction of justice, laying the groundwork for stopping or starving Mueller’s investigation.
13
Didn't Trump say he would pick the best of the best? The best must have very short shelf lives.
it must be easier to list those who haven't been forced to quit or sacked.
6
I never would have thought that Jeff Sessions' exit as Attorney General would have engendered anxiety rather than cheers from me.
So here we are, in the Age of Trump.
285
@Giskander
Yes, in this age of Trump people like you swiftly reverse opinions merely to oppose any decision by Trump. Such is the derangement of knee jerk resistance.
2
@Claude - maybe look in the mirror? You seem to accept knee jerk acceptance, of someone who states he is innocent of anything and everything, yet he continually disregards rule of law. For someone so innocent, he sure is trying to stop an investigation that would prove such innocence. mr. trump's only real talent is lying.
11
@Giskander
Sessions is a racist - but his firing is a great cause of concern for the Mueller investigation, as Trump is openly trying to close down the investigation.
America is in a Constitutional Crisis.
9
Does anyone remember Watergate? Saturday Night Massacre? Before that, the Pentagon Papers? I hope one of the broadcast networks or free streaming services airs All the President’s Men and The Post so that everyone born after 1960–who couldn’t possibly have a good grasp of what happened—can get a glimpse of how serious this situation is. And throw in David Frost’s interview with Nixon (Nixon: “.....when the President does it, that means that it is not illegal”). We are in dire trouble here. Trump thinks the Attorney General should defend the President, not enforce the nation’s laws and uphold the Constitution. Trump and his minions must have more to hide than any of us can imagine. I hope someone on Mueller’s team has spirited copies of what they have to some secret location. What will save us! The free press, and Mueller.
455
@Mary In SoCal
I'm firmly convinced that we cannot rely on any one person or group to save us. We must all lead from the front to fix this mess that we got ourselves into.
14
I was born in 1958 and remember the crisis, but friends born even a scant four years after me do not. Trump has said and done so many outrageous things that this is treated as another crazy Trump ploy. The Constitutional crisis danger by this ploy is not immediately apparent to anyone unfamiliar with Watergate. Trump has crossed the Rubicon.
22
Mary, yes, a free press and Mueller's investigation will root out facts and report them, and that is all good.
But with regards to your question 'what will save us?' The vote. Even with a significant portion of the electorate staying home, with all that's going on, Trump still lost the House, big. In 2020, he'll be up for election again. That election, in particular, will save us.
13
The initiation of impeachment that some call for would be madness. The Democratic House could surely start the process, But the Senate could never get a 2/3 majority to convict. This would lead Trump to claim he was exonerated and make him a hero with his base base. Better to let the new Democratic-led House Committees to use their subpoena power to get to the bottom of this. Of course, they may be beaten out by an earlier Mueller report. Trump will use his time before the new House is sworn in to try to block things. This is a critical period until then, and Mueller needs to submit his report NOW. This President could do something crazy like start a war and declare martial law. This is the time for truly patriotic Republicans in Congress and in the White House to show that their loyalty to Country comes before their loyalty to a deranged President.
10
The Trump family and administration are so ____________.
So, we are more vulnerable to attack by all and any means from every global adversary including cyber, economic markets, physical and social media strength right now. Because Trump.
We have a predictable, easily bought president. We even have the worst domestic terrorists — because trump speech.
The US is not winning. Alt-Great. Good help US.
I worry about the US farmers. They may be permanently losing the Chinese market. Due to this years trumpian tariffs and market closure, the Chinese etc, necessarily will have sought other sources that will reliably deliver every year. This years US harvest will rot. But next years may also.
Trump is the Bernie Madoff of product failure flubbers. Snake oil barons.
Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, Trump University, Trump Water, Trump Airlines, Trump the Game, Trump Casinos, GoTrump.com travel site, Trump Magazine, TrumpNet.
US Trump trade style will have major long term effects, as will many other Trump blunders. The soy bean and steel fab markets may be lost forever. Because Trump.
8
Ity's not that Sessions deserved to be AG to begin with, having lied about his connections with the Russians while on candidate Trump's team; but bypassing the natural heir as Sessions was fired today, Rod Rosenstein, and naming a shrewd Trump loyalist, Matthew Whitaker, known to publicly demand that Muller's investigation be ditched, is not, erhically speaking, and in strict justice, the one in charge of Mueller's fate. Trump himself is full of conflicts of interest; would Whitaker be his lap dog and follow suit, however incriminatory, suspicious of obstruction of justice? If Mueller were to be fired, all hell may break lose, if the Legislative branch has any morals left, and any sense of justice.
2
Please get on the World Patent story in the WSJ and Guardian and expose our new acting atty general for the scam artist he has been with Scott Cooper!
3
Wow, that resignation letter reminded me of Trump, all self-aggrandizing. Weird.
2
With the election over and the Democrats back in charge of the House there are many twists and turns this thing could take. I doubt the House leadership will waste time threatening Trump. That would feed right into his playbook. Empty threats. They need to keep their powder dry, outline a list of priorities ( i.e., immigration reform with mandatory E-Verify, and shore up healthcare). Let Mueller complete his work and see what it says. If there is corroborated evidence of collusion refer it for criminal proceedings after he leaves office. Then in the run up to 2020 milk the heck out of it.
4
Sessions can now be subpoenaed.
8
Mr. Whittaker is from Iowa, home of corn farming and alcohol for gasoline production.
Whittaker will protect the big oil companies.
1
Clever this guy, to fire Sessions the day after the mid-terms! Just think, if he had been on the level, he would have done it before the election to see how the citizens of the US voted.
2
Trump has less than two months to immunize himself from the Mueller investigation. If the speed with which he dispatched Sessions is an indication, don’t expect this massacre to be slow-rolling.
7
I predict there will be some mysterious news report in the next few days about how corrupt Jeff Sessions is, the kind of thing that will discredit him. That will come out just before we see Sessions walking in to talk to Mueller and make a deal.
4
Like after these last two years of seeing Rosenstein covered like and given rock star status only because he’s in charge of prosecuting Trump and now his recent long flight with Donald on Air Force One and then receiving his own personal blessing, I’m sure there’s no way he’s formed any personal opinion about this case on his own, that could only happen to lesser mortals, we’re supposed to believe, apparently. Who in DC is not doing nightly color commentary on TV or in OpEds these days?
1
Anyone who needs to move the pieces as much as Trump is trying to stay ahead of something. Russia, taxes...Mueller is marching right towards only Trump-knows-what.
But what still astounds me is how blatant Trump is with his disregard toward EVERYONE.
Sessions did no harm, and shamefully, that is about the best that can be said for this administration.
4
No House hearings to question the new Justice Department head? No warnings from Speaker Pelosi that any interference with the Mueller investigation will be considered obstruction of justice? Isn't this this exactly the kind of situation a newly Democratic House should be on top of?
3
Hoping the NYT reports on Whittaker’s involvement with an online “world marketing” company that the FTC declared was a scam and shut it down. Read about it in today’s Miami Times. Note the trumpian behavior of threatening a scammed customer who reported Whittaker’s company to a better business bureau. Mueller is supposed to report to this scam artist?
3
Dems should be the cool voice of reason, no need to over-react, but certainly be alert and ready to show spine when needed.
4
If Democrats devote the next two years to investigating Trump, will that help working Americans?
3
Let's see, Trump has decimated, neutered or turned completely under his control the EPA, Education, Homeland Security, HHS, Interior, State, CIA, FBI and now the Justice Department. His lapdog new AG Whitaker will be taking orders directly from the Oval Office.
How do the 'lesser' people working at the Justice Department feel about being neutered and turned into Donald Trump's personal lackeys? Are their any people in any of these agencies who have a smidgen of integrity? Who care about what is happening to their departments? To their mission? For some, their life's work?
The sad answer must be NO. There are none. Americans have not heard one peep from any of them.
What about FBI? Director Wray, a GOP Chris Christie toadie, rarely stands up for the men and women of the FBI and was seen to accept meekly Trump's instructions regarding the Kavanaugh "investigation". Has he no pride in the work of the agency he heads? Apparently not. He just wants to keep his job which means doing Trump's bidding.
And now the Justice Department has folded. A dictatorial takeover before our eyes?
If I were a foreign country, I would stop cooperating with American agencies as much as possible. Why work with the CIA or FBI or State when our President plans another private session with Putin in a few days and there will be no record of that meeting? What does Trump tell/discuss with Putin?
America has now entered a very dangerous period. Trump must be stopped.
10
Trump loses house. Needs to kick the dog and change media focus away from his loss. He succeeds once again by owning the news cycle and making the folks who disapprove of his policies angry and confused Those of us who who want change and a more civilized discourse should keep our eyes on the prize and not get sidetracked by his circus act.
10
According to the law, Trump does not have the power to appoint an interim Attorney General. Deputy AG Rosenstein should now be acting AG with Sessions gone.
See:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/508
13
For those among us who care about and obey the law. Not applicable apparently to those who live outside the law like our President.
Hello, constitutional crisis! Well, as Will Rogers said, there's worse things than a paralyzed Washington DC.
1
It was expected - at least in this case, Mr. Sessions did not learn of his firing via a tweet where his replacement was announced - as in case of T. Rex.
Also, Mr sessions was very much in the country.
I totally agree with POTUS on this issue that why lobby to get a job and on the first day, you recuse yourself from an investigation.
And this so called investigation was of a campaign that Mr Sessions was closely associated with. And he should have known if there was any collusion.
As it turns out - after two years - nothing has come up on collusion.
I really think that the Democrats want to use Mueller like the email inquiry of a certain woman.
Everyone knew there was going to be a fix since her boss publicly had exonerated her before facts were in.
But it damaged her politically.
The Democrats want to milk this cow till the fall of 2020 for an October surprise.
It's time for this inquiry to be shut down.
2
The attorney general of the United States is there to represent the U.S. government. He is not there to serve as the president's personal attorney and protector.
12
GOP coup has started to keep power forever. They just lost an election and now are planning to have none in future unless it guarantees their win.
My fellow Americans, pl wake up and face the monster now before it's too late.
5
Trump steals the news cycle and frames the conversation again. Couldn't let Democrats take the stage for a victory lap even a whole day. Once again, they are relegated to answering, "What do you think about what the president just did/said?" questions. How about this? When the reporters come asking, say "Unless he has just declared war, I have no opinion on what he says or does. Too busy working for the people who elected me. Ciao,"
9
Did Robert Muller complete his investigation on the Russian collusion before the mid term election? If he did, did he also play with president Trump in protecting him by not releasing his report unlike what James Comey did to Hilary before the 2016 presidential election.
1
The most obvious act to obstruct justice. Mueller should file an indictment against Trump today: Comey firing and Sessions firing are prima facie evidence of intent to close the ongoing investigation of whether Trump conspired with Putin et. al. during the 2016 election.
4
Nixon resigned 10 months after the Saturday Night Massacre. I'd like to think that this is the beginning of the end, but in truth today's Republicans have embraced the corruption that was too much for those of 45 years ago.
4
Whitaker isn't going to do anything to the investigation. The Clinton investigation was a waste and so is this. All of this is an unhealthy distraction from running the country. Let us all find common ground and move forward.
5
I am a both a practitioner and professor in the area of marketing and communications and am always amazed how Trump suckers the media into distractions and changing the main story. The story for the next few days would normally focus on the election and particularly the achievement of the Democrats of winning the house and finally giving Trump some real opposition other than the media. But Trump fires Sessions and guess what, the story will focus on Sessions and not the election . This an old trick that communicators have been using for decades but no one does it better than Trump and the media falls for it every single time.
8
What does this move mean to the Mueller investigation? Nothing.
What does it mean in the lager scope? Well from the Democrats point of view, anti-abortion, anti-cannabis, anti-sanctuary city, anti-prison and sentencing reform, I could go on... JS is out. A smart party, who wanted to make progress not just posture, would work with Trump to pick a AG who all agreed was suitable for the job.
1
I wish people like some of my family members would finally wake up. They talk about respect for the American way and even handed justice, etc., and yet they can never see themselves impacted adversely under the current administration, or that Trump and his minions are ever doing anything wrong.
And if ever push comes to shove, they always move the goal posts. Same for most Republicans and Evangelical Christians. How do you sleep at night?
7
Sessions says he has “restored the rule of law.”
He is delusional. Trump’s dismissal of him is anything but the restoration of “the rule of law.” It is the beginning of the final phase of obstructing justice.
And conservatives don’t care.
5
The saddest part of this, again is the way Trump supporters see this. They know he put Whitaker in place to squash the investigation, never the less, they applaud the appointment. They would rather have a possible criminal in the Presidency, than face the truth.
11
Mueller has had 2 years to conduct and report his findings, yet this never seems to have an end. I dont see a constitutional crisis when Mueller isnt willing to put his cards on the table.
2
And let's hope Trump doesn't start or try to start an illegal war to distract us from this coming Constitutional crisis.
9
We want a check on the president, and the president wants a check.
5
Trump's behavior is similar to a German leader at the end of World War II, who was isolated in his bunker and believed he could reverse the tide of the inevitable losing war. Trump's despotic actions to thwart the rule of law will ultimately fail.
The House will be able to replicate Mueller's investigation in the open eyes of the public while Trump is seen as a lunatic trying to hide unlawfulness. Eventually, the Senate will abandon Trump and impeachment and removal will be a reality.
Before Trump can fire Mueller, indictments will be returned that will put Trump in the most unsavory light such that moderate Republicans will consider him a leper that should be shunned.
5
@Ben
Deluded dreams await you.
POTUS PENCE is what you wish for is it?
2
@Mr Chang Shih Ahn
You nailed his back up protection plan sir.
1
Totally predictable. Lindsay Graham even said as much just weeks ago. There won't be anything the Democrats can do to stop that appointment, just as they could not stop any Trump appointment. And when the new AG fires Mueller there won't be anything Democrats can do about it then.
HURRAY UP, MUELLER!! It's time to wrap it up whether you're done or not.
2
Right now more than ever I need honest and straightforward news. Trump will label actual factual news fake. That needs to be reconciled. The truth will come forward but I hope the Times and the honestly honest main stream media will tell the true tale. The tax returns are just the small potato details. The whole Trump family cabal has a lot to answer for. Don't let them sully your honest attempts to be real news.
6
Senator Mitt Romney please oh, oh please bring back a Republican party worth respecting, even if one doesn't agree on fiscal direction.
3
Now Mueller can question sessions?
4
Sessions's forced resignation is Trump's preamble to his own eventual forced resignation.
5
Trump is facing a new normal, and it's clear from today's actions that his immaturity and narcissism are only going to show more in coming months. He has acted like a spoiled brat all his life, and it didn't help that he was coddled by his Republican enablers in Congress that last two years. Now he'll rightfully have to face tough questions from House Democrats about his Russian dealings and other issues. So Mr. President, if you're as innocent as you claim, why so uneasy about the prospects of a House investigation and continuing Mueller probe? You think the latter has dragged on too long? May I remind you that Starr investigated Clinton four FOUR YEARS in the 1990s. It started out with Whitewater and ended with Lewinsky. Turn around is fair play. Let's all just pray that justice and the truth win out.
8
Trump's actions are very transparent. Always have been. Just because it's conspicuous doesn't mean it's not a crime. As he screams and rails against the obvious and overblown, we have to prepare for taking this tsunami machine to task. Being the President and a criminal does NOT make you above the law. No wall or sycophant legislators can shield that.
9
Well, well. History may be repeating itself as many may see the ghostly shadow of Nixon standing behind Trump.
We can be moly hope, for the future of this nation and our form of government that the crook from Queens is encouraged to find his way back to the swamp he emerged from.
4
The game just got way more complicated. 45 will continue to try to win playing by the only rules he knows, those of a mafia don. The opposition will be playing with a much stronger hand: The Constitution of the United States of America. One side will win. The other side will be destroyed. Which side will it be?
3
Am I the only person to notice that DJT bumped the Dem election wins from the news cycle with the firing of Sessions? The news is all Sessions Sessions Sessions Sessions. Election results are bumped to the back pages.
6
Now Sessions is no longer an obstacle to the President legalizing marijuana on the federal level with a wave of his purple crayon. A lot of people are saying it could happen.
What a unifying gesture it would be for the President to end the injustice of the mass incarceration of non-violent marijuana convicts. And to end the uncertainty over the Federal role in the matter of legalizing, for adults, this god given, healing, miracle of an herb.
4
Why didn't Rosenstein see this coming and present Mueller's current findings before 11/6?
2
It has placed an UNCONFIRMED political hack into a position that legally, even according clarence thomas says, it cannot do. presidents cannot place an uncorfirmed by the senate person into a "principal" position of the government.
3
Just got notice to meet for rally in Times Square in NYC to protest the end of Mueller probe. Friends of the Earth has locations all over the USA. Google them if you want to protect Mueller investigation
8
@cheerful dramatist thanks for the info
1
It looks like he is asking for a revolution.
4
If Mueller ever had the intention of producing a damning report dangerous for the President, he would have done so already. I do not think he ever intended to be more than a smoke screen that covered the real nasty while he prosecuted some has-beens with no current influence.
3
See Guardian article about new guy, Matthew Whitaker - - - Trump's acting attorney general was part of firm US accused of vast scam - - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/07/matthew-whitaker-trump-attorney-general-us-firm
5
Did Sessions resign or was he fired?
Fired.
3
Trump thinks that if he says something long enough it will become true. At least his base will have forgotten what the truth is. Which is true. Maybe he thinks that if he acts like a king long enough he will become one. If he is indeed allowed to act like a king long enough he may very well become one; he is working at it steadily.
Trump has indulged in magical thinking for a long time and if he keeps it going, sometimes it works for him. He just decides what he wants and pronounces it so- long enough for most people to forget it is not so. Voila', magic!
"there is no collusion"
" Muller witch hunt"
"the fake press"
He thinks he is above the law, that he is way out in front and the only one who can do whatever it is. A narcissistic president in action.
He is the one, the only one who can fix it. Him.
1
The Russian probe is the biggest hoax on Americans ever. It is based on evidence no stronger or different than that someone claims Trump always chooses Russian dressing for his salad even when other options are available.
1
Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating possible links between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, has issued more than 100 criminal counts against 32 people and three companies. Additionally, two people — Michael D. Cohen, a former lawyer of President Trump and Sam Patten, a lobbyist linked to Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort — pleaded guilty to charges that stemmed from Mr. Mueller’s inquiry.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/21/us/mueller-trump-charges.html
Trump may be afraid of what Mueller has on his campaign. Especially Mercer's Cambridge Analytica.
Reports out today from the British Information Commissioner’s Office that Mercer’s Cambridge Analytica used Facebook data obtained from users in Britain, which was then used to sway elections for Brexit.EU. And Aaron Banks, in charge of the Brexit movement was reportedly in close communications with Russian oligarchs. Mueller’s team was reportedly involved in this investigation.
6
I respect AG Sessions for recusing himself when it was clearly the right thing to do (which is not necessarily a guaranteed thing in the current Republican party - see Georgia's governor-elect) but I would respect him much more if he had never touched the tar-baby that Trump is in the first place. Just like that fable, Jeff Session's legacy will be forever tarred by his proximity to Trump's campaign, and participation in the Trump administration's odious policies. It is a shame that so many apparently otherwise dedicated 'public servants' have soiled themselves with Trump acquiescence. A long career ends with an, on balance, shame-worthy close. Fade away, Sen. Sessions, and hope that history will be kinder to you for your earlier service and ignore your Trumpian folly.
1
He might as well have just tweeted, "I'm guilty."
11
Democrats better be willing to fight trump on Mueller or we will get another cover up.
6
Good riddance!! And hope he gets vindictive and writes a memoir with some juicy insider revelations and humiliating anecdotes about our illustrious president. He will make some millions from the royalties, do his media tour, and join the club of the president's enemies and castaways. He can then go home to Alabama and retire from public life. As fast as possible, please.
And lets see how crudely Trump deals with his new loyal appointee so he makes more transparent his obstruction of justice tricks in the next chapter of this saga.
4
Too late. With the house democrats in control with subpoena power, even when Mueller is fired (soon I predict) the House will finally get those tax returns and bring down this criminal gang. Lock them up.
13
The reality TV star who’s catchphrase is “you’re fired” delegates every dismissal as president. Such a tough guy. Like most bullies, he is quite the opposite.
10
So it begins. One more step towards martial law.
14
Sessons was a lousy choice as AG but Trump has no one to blame. He selected him.
And, in the future Trump may (and hopefully will) suffer the consequences of beating someone like a dog in public for over a year. A Sessions memoir?
9
Why would Whittaker assume this new role and put his own career on the line?
Let me get this straight:
1) Trump fires Sessions after claiming that Sessions was not loyal to him
2) The normal MO is asst. AG take the place (Rosenstein)
3) Trump instead places loyalist and partisan Whitaker
4) Whitaker is on record for defending Trump Tower meeting and Trump family and blasting/defunding Mueller
5) Whitaker will now be briefed on entirety of Mueller probe
6) Whitaker is able to bury any reports sent to his desk, even to Congress and deny any indictments requested by Mueller
7) Mueller waited until after elections to bring on reports and indictments
8) Trump instates Whitaker one day after election, new House instated in Jan. Whitaker has 2 months to work before
9) Noel Francisco, senior under Rosenstein, (a Trump placement) was a member of Trump’s defense team in Mueller probe
10) NF also is owed $.5M from Trumps defense team
11) NF is supposed to recuse himself if Rosenstein gets fired
12) McGahn wrote a secret “ethics exemption” for NF which allows him to work on the Mueller case even though he had conflicts of interest
13) McGahn was supposed to be recused from any legal orders of the Mueller investigation while on staff
THIS WHOLE THING STINKS OF OBSTRUCTION
15
How did Whittaker become Sessions’ chief of staff? Did he have history with Sessions? Or was he placed there by White House?
4
I don't think this is a surprise to anyone. Trump will appoint a Toadie to fire Mueller and/or squash the investigation into himself. More obstruction of justice. This will be like the Saturday Night Massacre during Nixon's reign, only much worse. 6 weeks until the new House is sworn in. I hope they are drafting impeachment papers.
10
Oh oh!
"Trump's acting attorney general was part of firm US accused of vast scam
Matthew Whitaker sat on advisory board of World Patent Marketing, ordered to pay a $26,000,000 settlement for "deceptive and unfair acts" in May, 2018."
He also sent a threat by email when he wasn't too busy slinging hot-tubs!
https://twitter.com/jonswaine
7
And Trump meets in private with Putin this weekend in Paris. Time to finalize a tattered cover-up plan.
12
Just yesterday, I feill out a questionnaire which asked just one question: Should Trump be impeached? The answers were Yes or No. I put in NO, because I simply do not want the next man in line to be president either. Today, the answer is YES. Because he will attempt to stop all investigations of himself, and even the Republicans cannot overlook that. This will be the straw that breaks the camels back. That dope a rope, is smart in one fact, or at least thinks he is. He always waits until the last moment, to pull these acts of aggression against the American people. He seems to think , oh its OK, they will get over it. NO WE WONT.
6
Why does trump want a loyalist as Attorney General?
Why was he so mad at Sessions for following legal ethics and recusing himself from the Russia investigation?
The answers are obvious and simple.
Because he is guilty, not only of conspiracy with Putin to steal the election, but of a list of financial crimes a mile long. And because he is as dirty as soil.
We are in for a very rough two years. Anyone who thinks everything is OK now that the Democrats have retaken the House is a fool.
The battle has just begun. God Bless America.
14
Trump looks more corrupt than Nixon. If Republicans don't recognize this then they are equally as corrupt.
17
I am sick of weasel words. Words that let the publication off the hook if proved wrong does the road, like "may" instead of "will". I also hate weasel headlines, designed to add a gloss of civility to stories that should have none. Your "Trump installs Loyalist" headline would have have been more accurate if it read "Trump Installs yes-man."
6
"Mr. Trump, who did not speak with Mr. Sessions himself, ..."
Once again, the "You're Fired!" guy chickens out on doing his own firing. Fired Comey by TV. Fired Tillerson by tweet. Fired Omarosa by pretending he didn't know. And now fires Sessions by proxy. Sad!
11
"Donald John Trump is the most successful career criminal in the history of the planet" -
David Cay Johnston
20
Wow so Trump is a real stand up guy.....he didn't have the guts to fire sessions before the election, but less than 24 hours later...poof!
The country gets the government it deserves. And all those who support this petty, immature, vile, crooked "person" deserve him...and all the damage he is yet to do in the next 2 years.
10
inre Mueller indictments:
okay, so next step is to dump Rosenstein. There's no one in the #3 position in the Justice Dept hierarchy, so move on down one level more to position 4. Hey, is that Noel Francisco? Connected to Jones Day law firm AND Trump? Oh, no problem! He has a waiver to be unethical...no conflict of interest there, eh?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Francisco
4
Goodbye Mr Mueller, your days are numbered.
3
Doesn't the senate have to approve Mr. Whitaker??Next in line who HAS been approved is Rod Rosenstein.
2
Dear NYT:
The Times displays an unbridled arrogance and desire to stoke conflict by labeling President Trump's decision to replace Sessions as a "defiant move." Please.
Cabinet shuffles are standard fare after a midterm. And Sessions was a dead man walking -- he had proved to be less than capable in his role as AG, regardless of his recusal from oversight of the most important investigation of his tenure.
It was more than bizarre that Sessions was persuaded to recuse himself from all Russia related issues because of his campaign role, whereas Rod Rosenstein-- who wrote the memo cited by the White House in terminating Comey, and who was interviewed by the special prosecutor re potential obstruction by Trump, did no do so.
1
This is an act of Trump running scared. That and watching him rant at reporters today; CNN and Peter Alexander of NBC- just pathetic. This is democracy? So sad that this is the state of our government these days. Perhaps an I.Q. Test for any future presidential hopefuls is in order.
Stay tuned!
8
Please, please do not give this scandal a "gate" moniker.
So tired of that one. Let's start fresh. Hmmm, 'coup' sounds about right.
13
If anyone needed yet another proof Trump is a total idiot, firing Sessions is it. I'm not worried about the Mueller probe. If Rosenstein is fired, or Whitaker fails to recuse himself and/or acts as Trump's attorney, the backlash will be substantial.
By firing Sessions Trump has shot himself in his racist/nationalist foot. Sessions is not racially insensitive, he is a blatant racist. Aside from his laughable stance on marijuana, Sessions was also the most successful of Trump's miserable slate of cabinet members. Sessions' agenda seemed aimed at keeping anyone who didn't look like him or share his beliefs from entering the U.S. He was very successful at this and by so doing, helped Trump keep his bigoted base stirred up.
Session's firing has been described as the Saturday Night Massacre in slowmo. That may well be, time will tell. If it does come to pass the democratic turnout in 2020 will dwarf the 2018 midterms.
6
NY Times continues an annoying trend that has run rampant over the last 24 hours. It's not MR Trump. It's PRESIDENT Trump. You are welcome to your opinions and you have the right to print them. YOu do not have the right to disrespect the office of the president.
1
The NYT is consistent. They referred to President Obama as Obama...regularly. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about the ‘news’ commentators at Fair and Balanced Fox News showing up at Trump campaign rallies and hugging him onstage?
8
Like every president before him written about in The NY Times, he is referred to as President the first time and Mr. each time after that. This is standard protocol for this paper. Many others don’t even include Mr.
4
No one has disrespected the office of President more than Donald Trump.
8
Not sure why he didn't just try to appoint a Russian.
13
There once was a lawyer named Sessions
who left rather sour impressions
with his White House boss,
so he got the toss --
he'll soon write best-selling confessions!
345
@tim torkildson I mentioned his soon to be published book as well today. Sessions' book is likely already written; he should send Trump an audio copy (he won't actually read a book) for Christmas.
8
What is the legal authority for the President to name or appoint a "staff member" from the DOJ to the Acting AG position. Under 28 USC 508(a), the Deputy AG (currently Rosenstein) becomes the acting AG. I thought a Senate-confirmable position could only be filled on an acting-basis by a "lower" level official who was also confirmed by the Senate. I don't know the answer to this question...but an answer should be found! Please help, NYTimes!!!
5
The time is coming when millions of Americans must march on The White House and shake the White House gates off their hinges.
11
Trump pulls Jim Acostas credentials; fires Sessions. Stop covering Trump. No free publicity for Trump. Ray Sipe
14
"John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, called Mr. Sessions ...to tell the attorney general that Mr. Trump wanted him to step down. Mr. Trump, who did not speak with Mr. Sessions himself, then ducked questions about Mr. Sessions’s fate at the news conference."
Donald Trump is nothing more than a naked coward in a bully's clothes. He doesn't have the courage to face the people he fires. Comey learned about his fate on cable news. Rex Tillerson was let go in a Twitter message. The only time this spineless "executive" acted face to face with someone he was about to fire was on The Apprentice. He belongs back on reality television.
9
More evidence of banana republic where certain candidates can conduct their own elections (Kemp in Georgia) and persons investigated can choose who will investigate them and to what extent. Not that I have any love for Sessions, who is as racists as they come!
11
I really don’t care do you?
Sessions continued to enforce Obama’s children separation!
3
This is a slow motion Saturday night massacre. However, Democrats and Republicans are too corrupt to save the American people from ruin.
1
Trump is a wounded animal in a corner, gnashing his teeth and showing his claws. He is not a thinker; he is ruled by anger and revenge. He is secretly humiliated by the control of the House going to the Democrats and he has to do something to distract himself from his feelings of shame. Firing Sessions takes the edge off. We’re dealing with a dangerous narcissist. He’s feeling embarrassed, so he wants to humiliate others. Really. There’s no telling what’s coming tomorrow. Remember what he said about being hit? Get ready for his “ten times harder” punch.
15
This is Trump's Saturday Night Massacre, and this time, we have a Senate that will do nothing about it.
7
If you hire a clown you get a circus. If you allow a criminal in your house you get robbed. If you cavort with a liar you get lied to. All these things and worse, are happening. There is no surprise here, but at some point there needs to be a thorough housecleaning.
26
Dear Trump Republicans and Administration:
If you haven't figured it out yet, no one is safe in Trump's sphere. You think you're different? You're the exception? Ha,ha. That's adorable. Just keep thinking that.
Meanwhile... Who's next to go? Everyone is eventually discarded by Trump. He will throw you under the bus. No one is safe. Not his minions, not his sychophants, not his family. Once you are no longer of use, or you cross some moving line only Trump understands, you are out. You people are enabling a monster who is destroying America.
For those of you who have been an accomplice in Trump's criminality, you will be tossed out and left to pay the price.
Cheers.
21
"Mr. Trump, who did not speak with Mr. Sessions himself, then ducked questions about Mr. Sessions’s fate at the news conference."
OMG, Trump is such a spineless wimp!
18
Dont kid yourself commentators. Mueller will be fired before the Democrats can begin the next Congress in control.
His brownshirts will shred all the documents and we will be left with nothing except empty promises from the Senate. Hopefully Mueller will leak every single page to the right people in the FBI and the State of New York.
This "president" is a nazi in a blue suit and a red tie. He'll have his brownshirts go after CNN first given his insane rants of today.
30
Well, that didn't take long. My prediction: Lindsey Graham will be the next AG, and Nikki Haley will be appointed to fill his Senate vacancy in South Carolina.
375
@jrinsc - ...and I think that was the plan along. Have her resign from the U.N. in preparation for this. I think the fix was in months ago, but we'll see.
42
God I hope there are a few Deep Throats in Trump's inner circle.
24
If this does not teach republicans who they are really dealing with, please, we beg them: move to Texas, take Trump with you and secede !
19
@C.R.
Trump is not wanted in Texas.
3
Gosh, what did Texas ever do to you? We're trying to get a blue wave going here and we're apparently not too bad at it. So we're good on republicans, but thanks anyway.
3
Trump is an overt criminal.
This is another attempt t obstructing justice in open sight for the entire world to see.
Trump belongs in a jail cell immediately.
The crimes Nixon committed do not begin to touch the level of those by this unrepentant merchant of filth.
48
The reason the Mueller investigation is taking so long is the trumps administration and family businesses are an endless snake pit of corruption and treason ! If unfettered the investigation could take a couple of more years. The whole country is agrivated and agitated and everybody hates somebody. I remember at Woodstock where red necks and hippies partied together. Just sayin’.
26
Why does the Times say “forced to resign?” There’s a simple verb for that: “fired.”
19
Session got what he deserved. You endorsed a liar, cheat, morally absent candidate. You yourself lied about Russian involvement in the election and for all of this you get fired. This President fires people like Commey who thought he would preserve his job by trashing Hillary and keeping mum on Russia. Fires Sessions for doing the right thing to recuse himself. Trump makes slimy people look good.
19
When you decide to "play with fire," you're not supposed to leave the office with tears in your eyes like Sessions did today.
This white supremacist from Alabama got what's coming to him, and that makes me happy.
17
Write your book, Jeff. We can't wait.
11
The Trump administration is so corrupt and criminal it makes me wanna throw up!
16
Is this Trump's version of the Saturday Night Massacre?
14
Spare a thought for poor old Lindsey Graham. After spending the last few months cozying up to President Trump on the golf course he now has to reconcile his 2017 pronouncement "If Jeff Sessions is fired there will be holy hell to pay. Any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency. "
Being the professional politician that he is I'm sure he will find a way, and one that probably suit Trump.
25
Firing the country's Attorney General because he wouldn't protect the "president" from being investigated...
Cue the "it's not illegal," "he's within his rights," talking points and parrots. What's that saying, "just because you can doesn't mean you should."
Moral rot, through and through, from head to toe, the whole lot of 'em.
24
For eight years Republicans treated a perfectly normal and un-indicted administration as traitorous lying thieves (they go back to 2008 to get Obama's lie.)
Now the media and even many Democrats are treating a traitorous lying thief as a normal president, despite all of the indictments and convictions and flipped allies and Trump's televised confessions to crimes.
Without checks and balances, the president becomes king. Kings have absolute power, that corrupts absolutely, often driving them mad. Certainly they became numb to the pain they inflict.
What happens if "President for Life" Trump commands history's most awesome military force combined with super loyal secret police with big data and impunity. That's what no checks and balances means: impunity.
Without checks and balances, Trump can cancel your citizenship. Once he can cancel an immigrant's citizenship, he can cancel anyone's citizenship.
Wanna be dictator sends constant shocks through the system by attacking norms. The system becomes overwhelmed by the shocks and loses its ability to protect itself from unconstitutional assaults. Checks and balances are eliminated and violence insues.
How do I know? Because that is the true story of the caravans. That is the history of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, the capitalist "success"stories of Central America, not counting the money laundering capital, Panama.
If Trump can end the Mueller investigation, soon U.S. citizens will be forming caravans to go north.
15
Things are about to get REALLY interesting from now on...
7
@Barbara Brundage
This is not reality TV. "interesting" is NOT in yours, mine, OUR interest. This is not fun and games.
@Matthew
No, it’s definitely not fun and games.
It’s been a 2 year long horror show that’s about to unravel in front of us. I just hope when it’s over that sanity, decency and integrity will be restored to the office currently occupied by this criminal.
What is the difference between forcing someone to resign and firing them? NY Times, why not call this what it is, a firing?
11
trump continues to destroy America, sending America deeper and deeper into the abyss. God save America from trump and the gop
16
President Trump is in the middle of an all out political war with a radical left wing whose single minded goal is to destroy his Presidency as evidenced by the endless investigations, the FISA abuses, the cozy relationship between the HRC campaign, the DNC, Fusion GPS, the FBI the DOJ, Mr. Steele and their collective actual collusion with actual Russians.
Further, to grasp the ruthless lengths to which this radical left wing will go one only need look at the Kavanaugh hearings and how this radical left wing ginned up false rape allegations intended to not only derail his confirmation but to punctuate the point by grinding his good name into pieces approaching the size of atomic particles.
Only a fool would go into this war willingly saddled with a critical general who not only ran at the first hint of battle but has stayed firmly MIA while safely over the horizon. May he enjoy his retirement.
This change was long overdue.
Us deplorables out here in the fly over places have your back Mr. President.
MAGA.
2
LOL
10
Hi K. Johnson in Seattle is a Liberal Mess. Thanks for reiterating all the right wing conspiracy theories. Please check the facts on these unfounded rumors. Beware that Russia may behind many of them. Or Fox News.
9
Hi Jay Russo, what part of HRC paid for the Steele Dossier and the related relationships are not true? Heck, the stuff I outlined was reported in the New York Times. Maybe you should be reading the New York Times instead of watching Fox News.
1
The New York Times disapproves of President Trump gaining a person in DoJ who can conduct proper oversight of the Mueller investigation.
And, by the way, Ron Rosenstein visited the White House shortly after the Attorney General resigned.
Next.
4
One thing trump loves is to distract and steal the news , so that’s what he did again. Sigh
10
Trump might have hired another sleazy employee:
"Court filings in the case against World Patent Marketing show that Whitaker received regular payments of $1,875 from the Florida-based company, and sent a threatening email to a victim of the alleged scam."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/07/matthew-whitaker-trump-attorney-general-us-firm
9
I hire people.
Then I undercut them, and publicly criticize them.
I proceed to blame them for all my self-inflicted problems.
Then I fire them.
---
Why would anyone work for Mr. Trump?
It is career suicide.
31
Replacing the head of the Special Counsel investigation the day after losing the election so spectacularly sounds like ...
obstruction of justice!
30
If Trump fires Sessions so he can appoint someone who will suppress the Russian Investigation, then is that not like shooting someone on Fifth Avenue? Won't lost a single vote. Democrats have no right to throw stones at this sinner! Maybe we should just be content to throw the book at him!
4
Why are folks on here posting, that since Democrats won the House, it means Mueller is safe and protected?
The House can't do anything to stop the President from firing and hiring anyone in the Administration.
The only power Congress has is to consent, or not, to some Cabinet positions, and that power lies solely with a now more conservative Senate.
I would hope NYTimes denizens know how our government works.
4
Trump thinks he is a tough guy. But there are clearly cracks in the facade. A whiff of desperation, especially in that news conference. Throughout his life, he has left the heavy lifting to others who do his dirty work so he can keep spewing lies about his accomplishments. No surprises today. One needs not an org chart, but an exit chart to keep track of presumed loyalists who have departed or been shown the door.
11
I don't feel sorry for Jeff Sessions at all, but at least he was smart and autonomous enough to know better than to meddle with the investigation, which is what I suspect Whitaker will try to do. Seems to me like Trump has come unhinged now that the Democrats have retaken the House and the implications have had time to sink in. He's making one bad move after another today, with his worse-than-usual attacks on the press and now this... like a wounded, cornered dog.
10
With friends like Trump, Sessions needs no enemies. Hope he's angry enough to write a book.
10
Trump is scared and desperate. Clearly he believes Mueller has the goods on him. Is there anything Trump won't do to stop the investigation? Nunes and the other Trump House hooligans can no longer obstruct justice for him after December. Obviously Whitaker would also have to recuse himself. He has already made it clear that he is a Trump partisan hack. Will Mr. Kelly really go along with all of this without resigning? It will taint his name forever. What skeletons does Whitaker have in his closet? Has he like Sessions lied about Russian activities? Will Whitaker open fascist investigations into Trump's political adversaries? Trump's accusations are mostly false. Sessions has done a great deal for Trump and the Republicans--to my great dismay as a Democrat. Trump's unhappiness with Sessions are about the investigation alone. He wanted Sessions to kill it. Trump looks guilty as all get out. He looks dangerous as all get out too. There isn't anything he won't do.
17
Why would this be anything to do with Muller?
The President has nothing to hide.
Apparently.
1
trump fails to understand how our government works. The Attorney General is not his personal lawyer. trump complains that Sessions didn't stop the Muehler investiation when he asked him to. Isn't this a clear case of obstruction of justice?
8
@Norma
Unfortunately, the Republicans will let 45* do whatever he wants, laws and rules be damned.
5
If worse comes to worse and the Mueller inquiry is shut down and its findings suppressed, the new Congress can create an investigation and supena Mueller. They can ask him what he learned during his investigation. It might go on for days and it would make the best television since Watergate.
12
What if there were no Mueller investigation? Who in the press would take his place? Why hasn't the Times, working with other newspapers, released a book length report of its own, telling us exactly what happened? Surely good reporting can mimic Mueller's investigation- god knows how many people are willing to leak what's going on. Is it 'against the rules' to give us access to the presidents tax returns, money laundering, collusion with Russia, etc., etc., etc.?
1
If the Mueller investigation is impeded, count on the NY Times and the Washington Post to get reveal everything that has been uncovered.
The reporting will make the Pentagon Papers and Watergate look like Dr. Seuss.
33
Is there any reason why Mueller cant release his findings to congress tomorrow or at least ahead of Trumps little tricks?
6
It speaks volumes about Donald Trump that not even Jeff Sessions is ruthless enough for him.
21
This is a disgrace of course, redolent of vengeance, crass bullying and a fervent desire to derail the Russia probe in its tracks. Is the AG recusing himself somehow a breach of contract? Perhaps a breach of zero loyalty to your boss's alleged wrongdoings? Constructive dismissal requires a breach of contract but I think is quite obviously unfair dismissal. Unless there are warning letters about how you are doing your job and this is the culmination, I don't see that this is a legal move at all. It reeks of protectionism and insulating himself from future indictments. The timing is designed to minimise damage to his party's fortunes. The caravan is suddenly a distant memory.
8
@Stuart Political appointees serve at the behest of the president. There is no appeal process involved.
I find it ridiculous that Sessions referenced restoring the rule of law. Yes, he recused himself on Russia, but has taken no other action in support of the rule of law since.
There are no principles of fairness or justice to uphold in the Trump Republican Party. There is only the ego of a populist dictator who equates his whims with the rule of law and is supported at every turn by his equally corrupt party that will do whatever it can to stay in power until we live in the Corporate-Evangelical version of Iran. That includes support from Jeff Sessions.
I guess it should surprise no one that a modern supporter of Jim Crow like Sessions will support Trump no matter what given that the South has historically been a cesspool Good Ole Boy Loyalty politics. Trump is just more of the same farce that has passed for justice and rule of law in most of the South since reconstruction.
When Loyalty Is valued at the expense of Integrity then Corruption Reigns.
21
There's a pattern here.
Trump doesn't summon the person he will fire to the Oval Office so he can, face-to-face, tell them "You're fired."
Gee, you'd think tough guy, punch-them-back Trump, who finds loads of courage to tell it like it is from behind his Twitter account, or when he's before a crowd of adorers, would relish the opportunity to fire someone in person.
Nope. It's always 2nd hand, while he ducks behind John Kelley.
Trump also kicks his own while they're down. Look at what he said about fellow Repubs who lost yesterday.
I dunno. I suspect Trump lacks courage.
26
You suspect? I can confirm, the 45th President lacks courage. He also lacks integrity, empathy, and principle. Lastly, he lacks common decency.
6
Not surprised by this one bit, Jeff Sessions has been on borrowed time for the past 18 months especially when he recused himself from the Russia probe.
At least he did show a little spunk in his "resignation" letter to the President.
His treatment by Trump should serve as a lesson to the other members of Trump's administration. If you don't do things according to Trump's play book; you can look forward to being insulted, castigated, threatened etc. on a daily basis.
I can't even imagine what its like to work in that chaotic White House on a daily basis.
340
@Maureen
I think people who have so far survived their tenure in the white house have developed various mechanisms to cope. It helps that their ambitions override their ethics, and that they're willing to stoop to grovelling obsequiousness, but theres's more.
I think Sarah Sanders has a good strategy when faced with trumpiness. It works whether she's fending off journalists or just giving herself a pep talk: (1) "trump didn't say that"; (2) "trump said that, but meant something else"; (3) "I'm not going to discuss that"; and (4) "trump's doing great things for the country".
5
@Maureen I can’t imagine any reputable person would want to work for this inept and corrupt administration: you’re known by the company you keep.
7
@Maureen
"I can't even imagine what its like to work in that chaotic White House on a daily basis."
"Chaos" in the White House is a frequent a lead sentence in many news stories. However, I would suggest that people who work in the White House enjoy the frenzy chaos causes and revel in the havoc they are wreaking. Trump has a very high approval rating from Republicans-- they just won additional seats in the Senate- and they believe in the "almost total victory" that Trump espouses. Retaining and adding additional Republican Senators is a big deal--they don't have to worry about Collins and Murkowski. They have the Supreme Court they dreamed about and likely will have another possible pick. Trump is achieving the Republican agenda in spades, tax cut for rich, rollback of regulation. They have gutted Obamacare And he unabashedly reflects their white nationalist feelings. So what if the Boss is a little crazy- he is crazy like a fox but so what, they are winning. I am sure they are thrilled to come to work everyday.
6
Jeff Sessions is an honorable man.
3
@William Ankenbrandt
Just because he got shafted by someone more reprehensible than himself doesn't make him honorable.
6
Trump will resign after the House gets too close for comfort to his business affairs and Pence will pardon him. Hopefully. What's found goes public so that he becomes the pariah that he is. Also, hopefully, the SC will uphold the separation of federal and state prosecutions, so that the NY attorney general can go after the Trump clan.
Come 2020, the true blue wave comes in, after all the senate seats not up for grabs this midterm become Republicans made a deal with the devil. Did they expect not to get burned?
14
Happy day for the US. Kudos to President Trump.
4
Trump is very good leader.
2
@Rose. In what way is despotic acts by a third rate despot a happy day.
1
@Rose
Clearly the rule of law means nothing to the President's drones.
1
David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter predicted this last night on the CBC. Sessions had been protected by principled friends in the senate but the senate is now much more compliant. Expect confirmation soon of a Trumpite AG.
5
Trump is now navigating the ocean of fear HE created.
He is panicking. He doesn’t know who would turn against him.
His next move would be the firing of Mueller.
In any case Trump is smelling his own end.
15
I don't see Whitaker trying to end the investigation abruptly when Mueller is so close to completion. That would be political lunacy. But he might try to undermine the investigation in ways more subtle at his boss' behest.
Democrats in the House need to play it sharp over the next couple months, because they're going to try all kinds of chicanery to bury this before 2020 rolls around.
Don't be afraid to impeach if Trump decides to open that door. Even if the Senate decides to let him slide, there must be a public accounting. The people must know the truth.
459
@AJ Garcia You haven’t been following the process much have you? I refer you - and the nyt’s editors who gave you their seal of approval - to the House “investigation.”
Trump will definitely have Whitaker shutdown the investigation and there’s very little anyone can do.
The entire process is a sham and the conservatives and independents who kept the Republicans in control of the Senate don’t care.
10
@AJ Garcia
Is Mueller close to completion? I can't really say. The last thing I heard from the investigation mostly concerned Roger Stone and WikiLeaks. That doesn't sound like a conversation which will end shortly. Julian Assange has been hiding in an Ecuadorian embassy for years. Meanwhile Stone is on record saying he had inside connections to Assange during the campaign. I can't even speculate what might turn up if Stone gets pegged on serious charges.
Is the investigation done? I'm inclined to say no if Mueller is allowed to do his job.
21
@AJ Garcia wrote, "I don't see Whitaker trying to end the investigation abruptly when Mueller is so close to completion." You don't? That's what this football-playing brute has been hired to do - and what he will do, either directly or indirectly, unless there is some way to build a firewall around the Mueller team. I wish Mueller had brought out *something* before the election and certainly hope someone is making clandestine copies of all the research. It may be the only copy that will exist when these brutes steamroll the investigation out of existence. The fascist machine is cranking up.....
12
So the Republicans lose the House, and Trump immediately promises a good working relationship with the House--as long as House Democrats don't investigate his family's business dealings. He then fires his Attorney General the next morning, and replaces him with Mr Whitaker, obviously a more compliant tool Trump can use to halt the Mueller investigation.
And we're now supposed to believe the Trump family has nothing to hide? Show us your taxes, Mr. President.
885
@Jim In Tucson
Thank you.
This simple question - why won't you relase returns - should have ben the healdine every single day.
No no other POTUS has ever refused to release.
His lame statement today at his press conference that the returns are "under audit" are a deflection, a sham, for one reasons:
as a matter of law, you can release returns pending audits.
(what audit lasts three years ?)
What is he hiding?
What/who is he so afraid of ?
I have news for Donald - when the House subpoenas the IRS for the retursn, they won't need your his permisison.
Methinks he doth protest way, way, way too much.
Methinks he is a freeloader and tax cheat at best.
A traitor at worst.
57
Sessions has been living on borrowed time for awhile. Most knew the axe was going to fall on him soon.
3
@Jim In Tucson
Obviously Mr. Trump has nothing to hide. Simply listen to his absolute transparency, enduring consistency and unwavering integrity. Nothing at all to "hide".
9
Yes, Republicans now have even more senators to conceivably do Trump's will than they had yesterday, but how many of these who are hoping to be reelected in two years or even four years will want to tie themselves too closely to the wild man on display in his press conference this morning who couldn't bear to be contradicted. Trump may not realize it yet, but the most deadly sharks now circling are not reporters or Democrats, but senior Republicans.
309
@Leigh
The newly elected Senators won't take their seats until January. Until then, Senators who have not been elected don't have to fear Trump.
What a mess!
7
@Leigh From what I’ve seen, Republican senators have no problem implicitly and explicitly aligning themselves with Trump. Even Jeff Flake talks as though he disagrees with Trump, then turns around and votes for what Trump wants. The Republican Senator from my state narrowly beat his Democratic opponent in 2016, but refuses to stand up to Trump. We’ll see if these latest election results make an impression on him.
12
@Leigh Someone needs to study the news better! The candidates that did not embrace Trump lost, not those that did!!
1
People claiming that POTUS firing his AG is obstruction of justice need to read the constitution. AG serves at the pleasure of POTUS. There can be no obstruction of justice for POTUS using Article 2 of the constitution.
Trump also does not want to fire Mueller. IF he wanted to he would have done so already.
5
Of course that is simply untrue. Obstruction of justice occurs when someone acts with corrupt intent to obstruct s federal investigation. The underlying act can be legal, it is the intent and the result that turn it into obstruction.
Sessions was a downright terrible AG and a rather despicable public figure who, contrary to his public statements, did not uphold the law but rather attempted to subvert it at every turn. Good riddance.
Now to the task of moving the investigation to the appropriate oversight committees and if necessary, to the prosecutors who will indict guilty parties.
8
Trump didn't think this up on his own, and he isn't running scared. My guess is that Putin pulled this particular trigger in order to deep-six the Mueller probe before the House comes back. One day after a House flipping election, Congress is simply unavailable for comment on Sessions today, so Trump can get away with it. Putin knows that. Also, in about 50 days, Congress will stop being handcuffed by the White House and actually use its subpoena power again. Putin knows that, too. Best to bury Mueller now, and suppress anything that isn't already public.
6
I doubt if Putin cares one way or the other. His intention was to sow disruption and distrust among the American people. He succeeded, regardless of how the Russian investigation turns out.
Mr. Sessions wrote he was resigning as the president had requested.
I'm surprised he didn't write "I am resigning but I do not recall why".
9
I am not a fan of the now former Attorney General, but his treatment was horrible and shabby. He did his duty regarding the Russia probe and we should thank him for doing so. His successor will be far worse.
9
I faulted Trump from the get go, letting Sessions remain on as the AG, but recusing himself from the Russia probe, was weak. It befuddles me how the FBI can probe Justice Kavanaugh in a few days and come up with nothing credible, but it's taken Mueller and a fleet of lawyers a year and a half to come up with anything on Trump. Time's up, it's time for Mueller to show his hand or fold. Look, I'm all for prosecuting Trump to the full extent of the law if the evidence is there. I'm also for serving up steaming roasted crow on a cold platter to the Dems if there's not.
2
@Kurt Pickard Unfortunately real detective criminal work is not like a tv drama or what the social media world would like to take place. It simply takes a lot of time and effort for this type of work as the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt" is a very high standard; and rightly so as it protects all of us from shoddy detective work.
Progress is being made following a systematic, thorough, methodology. Be patient. Check how many people have already been indicted and found guilty.
9
It took the Republicans seven years to find nothing on Hillary.
10
The Kavanaugh probe was limited by you know who. What can you do in 3 days?
1
We all know what this means for the Mueller Investigation(s).
The big question is how will the Democrats fight what is going to come...and hopefully a lot stronger then the Merrick Garland appointment debacle.
It will show the strength or weakness of our current party. They best be on board and on top of their game., 2020 is not that far away and If Trump does not run there is a Pence just waiting in the 'right' wing, and this we do not want at all.
It's up to the party what the choice will be.
4
Although I don’t think much of Jeff Sessions, he deserves credit for recusing himself and refraining from interfering in the special counsel investigation. That’s really bare minimum democracy 101, but so rare in government these days.
But now we are headed for a constitutional crisis. What does it mean for the future of American democracy when a president uses the Deparment of Justice like a personal legal team, tasked not to serve the country but to serve only one man?
662
@citybumpkin, He NEVER should have recused himself, the Investigation was fake from the Start, Obama likes to use Gov't Departments against political rivals
4
@hank48188
Exactly the way Republicans do.
19
So the convictions resulting from the "fake" investigation are fake as well? The ease with which potus's supporters label anything they don't like as fake is truly astounding. drumpf understands this phenomenon he created & while he knows the difference between true & fake (at least I think he does), he has no problem with shamelessly manipulating & exploiting those who don't. The investigation is real or potus wouldn't be flipping out the day after the Democrats reclaimed the House. It's so obvious.
111
At the time of my writing this comment, in about 15 minutes, the Mueller investigation will be at its 540-day mark. Is there an end in site to this unbounded investigation, which has been used by Democrats as a political tool against Republicans? Perhaps if Sessions created some parameters within which this investigation should be carried out, and perhaps if there was no mutual vitriol between Rosenstein and President Trump, Sessions would not only not have been asked to resign, he would be respected more by true-blue conservatives and respected less by partisan Democrats and establishment Republicans, which is a good thing.
3
I know you’re anxious to see “Trump” brought to justice, but we all must be patient. Mr. Mueller is a thorough man, he is collecting all the evidence with diligence. He knows exactly what he is doing.
12
@Matthew
Something tells me, in all his unblemished thoroughness, Mueller will wait till October 2020 to report his findings, which will be chock-full of misdirection, mendacity, and misrepresentation.
@Matthew
You say Mueller is "collecting all evidence with diligence." I say that he is using politically motivated dilatory tactics, especially in his refusal to not make his investigation bipartisan, refusing to look into the 2016 Clinton campaign, including her email server, the corruption of the Clinton Foundation, and, according to the Washington Post, Russian collusion.
T does it again. Diverting the spotlight from the Dem's House win.
11
@Zoned - Bingo! The Master of chaos rules the airwaves again. Another news cycle OWNED by the Master.
It is odd reading all of these conspiracy theories about Mueller being a Trump insider because I remember when Mueller was appointed and it was reported that he was severely cconflicted because his former law firm represented the Trump family.
Somehow that all got turned by Trump into Mueller being conflicted the other way, and for the beefit of Trump' s opponents, since the people working with Mueller, in Trump' s view, were Democratic loyalists.
All of this is quite disturbing.
2
How will this complicit trio reconcile their words should Trump continue on his determined path to end the probe?
In April Mitch McConnell said he would not allow a bill protecting Robert Mueller to come to the floor for a full Senate vote.
McConnell:
“I’m the one who decides what we take to the floor. That’s my responsibility as majority leader. We’ll not be having this on the floor of the Senate.” He wasn't alone.
Speaker Paul Ryan:
Legislation to protect Mueller's position was “unnecessary” because, based on “the kinds of conversations we have had," he believes that the president will not take steps to dismiss the special counsel. "It would be not in the president’s interest to do such a thing and I think he knows that.”
Senator Lindsey Graham:
McConnell's approach was "his decision to make.”
“I don’t believe Mr. Mueller is in jeopardy of being fired. I wanted to do some institutional protections for special counsels down in the future, but I respect Mitch and I’m going to vote in committee for the institutional protections and again, I don’t think Mueller is going to be fired.”
3
Whatever victory the Democrats may have achieved in taking over the House, Trump was not going to allow Pelosi to grab the headlines and spotlight from him. That is why this firing occurred today, and others will follow on a timed basis. Now that the elections are over, there is no collective voice to be exercised except by the ballot for two more years.
2
Distract, distract, distract. Trump loses the House, and to forestall a week of post-mortem demonstrating how his divisive scare tactics turned off voters throughout the nation, he fires Jeff Session.
Folks, we knew he was going to do this. It is his timing that is so typical of his TV reality show mentality. Now we will be talking about Sessions and angst over the Mueller investigation instead of focusing, as we should, on Trump's disastrous loss in the midterms.
27
If Alabama still votes for Trump after everything he did to Sessions, then I'm sorry to say they have no values. How does Kelly sleep at night with everything that is going on.
13
Trump's message is clear: I am above the law, I cannot be investigated. As Louis XIV put it, I am the State, I will do my best to get rid of any political authority that crosses me.
Democracy is so 2015.
19
@Peter Wolf
Trump appointed a Justice he thinks will help him obstruct justice.
1
It’s funny how right wing zealots can find a conspiracy theory behind every bush (no pun intended), but fail to see one of the biggest ones ever, right under their noses. The Trump organization, which went belly up during every minor recession, managed to breeze through the 2007/2008 crisis, the largest real estate debacle since the Depression, without a hiccup; picking up distressed properties and golf courses along the way. Coincidentally, this was about the time that The Donald started developing new friends in Russia. It’s not a coincidence that Trump says a peek at his finances are off the table (I think the reluctance to show his tax returns is just plain embarrassment that he’s never paid a dime of income tax). There’s never been any question Trump is deeply beholden to Putin’s oligarchs, the question is how far will he go to keep that from being proven.
19
Democrats should issue Trump a clear and simple warning:
"Mr President:
The Democratic House will not attempt to impeach you as long as you behave like a normal honorable stable president with dignity and respect for our constitution."
7
@Truth is out there
It's literally impossible for the President to behave in such a fashion.
1
........Justice department ethics advisors?
Who are these advisors, and has Whitaker made a loyalty oath to the president.
I don't like any of this.
6
Mueller had to go because he was too much above the fray to be the perfect foil for Trump. After Mueller is fired, Trump will malign House investigations as partisan. Hopefully, purple states will see through Trump's lies in 2020.
9
Another episode of The Apprentice.
Why are people still watching?
What if the media ignored 45 for a while.
Made him insignificant.
Didn´t show up at press conferences to be harassed and scolded.
Just waited for a tweet.
6
@Berg Vik
You don't understand.
Trump is trying to install any organized crime syndicate as the government of the USA, a country with history's most awesome military and surveillance capabilities.
The reality TV show is just to distract you.
@McGloin
I do understand. Which is why I don´t understand why the American media continues to play along with his game. They should agree - make a deal among themselves - to get under his skin the best they can while they dig for what he is doing behind closed doors. Neither do I understand the polite language they use towards him and the formal respect they display. But my cultural background is different. Norwegian journalists would never have accepted to be talked to in the manner I have seen aired. If any Norwegian politician had displayed the lack of respect towards the press corps that 45 has displayed, they would united have gone after that politician until he or she broke. The pressure and psychological warfare they would have put up is one I think Americans have a hard time imagining. In 2002 a Norwegian politician committed suicide, to a large part because of the media pressure he was exposed to , because the press speculated he was involved in possible corruption.
Any Attorney General serves at the pleasure of the President. Kennedy named his own brother as Attorney General. Were Democrats, liberals and progressives outraged at that outright bias and partisanship? Sessions did not carry out the wishes of the President. Consequently, he is gone. That's politics, and it's perfectly legal, and with multiple historic precedents.
@paul
Lol.
6
@paul You want to bring an example from 57 years ago? Kennedy was not under investigation by a special counsel. No distinctions?
@paul In normal times an AG can uphold the rule of law _and_ carry out the wishes of the President. These are not normal times. The next AG and his successors nominated by this administration will have the same stark choice as did Sessions, but presumably will have have been pre-screened for their "flexible" loyalty to the rule of law and the constitution.
I was hoping when I got up this morning that Mueller had filed new indictments, but alas...
In any event, I've been under the impression that since AG is a position that requires confirmation by the Senate, you can't put a guy like Whitaker in place for any length of time who hasn't been confirmed.
1
I just finished reading James Comey's A Higher Loyalty, and I highly recommend it. Despite what you may think it's about, he barely mentions DT's name until the last third of the book. It's an education in the importance of ethical leadership and the crucial need for the FBI leadership in particular to be independent of any partisan leanings. As excellent leaders do, he constantly questions his own motivations and checks them with deep conversations with colleagues, especially those he doesn't always agree with. An important book for citizens to read if we care about the future of democracy in the U.S.
19
What future? What democracy?
2
@Beth B LOL Comey is a professional liar, promoted on the basis of his ability to lie, in an organisation that is all about deception. Perhaps you should read something real like the truth about Operation Condor! Or the CIA's involvement in coups and assassinations globally for the last near 70 years!
'...Justice Department ethics advisers may be asked to weigh whether he should also recuse himself. "
But first will be asked if they have a mortgage.
4
I live in Alabama and have never, and never would, vote for Jeff Sessions. I also never thought that I would appreciate Jeff Sessions. But after the past 18 months I do.
6
Under the rules governing the Special Counsel, Mr. Mueller's report must now be submitted to Whitaker -- and no one else. Mueller cannot submit it directly to Congress and could not even comply with a subpoena if the Trump Administration decided to claim Executive Privilege.
Once Whitaker receives the report from Mueller, it is at his sole discretion to either send the report on to Congress, send some parts of it but not others, or to withhold it entirely. Yet another alternative would be for Whitaker to write his own "synopsis" and submit that to Congress with a note saying that this conveys the gist of Mueller's report. Congress would have no way of knowing, however, if Whitaker's synopsis was based on Mueller's actual report or directly contradicts it since Congress does not have the right to see the original report without Whitaker's -- and the White House's -- permission.
Since the new Congress won't be seated until January, the Trump Administration still has a few months with no effective Congressional oversight whatsoever to shut down the Mueller investigation and bury or destroy its findings. My guess is that WH and DOJ attorneys have already been tasked with thinking up ways the Administration can ensure that the new Congress never sees Mueller's report.
31
@Ken
And if that report somehow leaks out, Mr. Mueller goes to jail.
You can be assured of it.
1
@Ken Whitaker would be risking everything. He doesn't play by the rules he will be exposed. A copy of the investigation's findings will make it to Congress, one way or the other.
1
@Ken
He can just submit it to congress. Why would he think of doing anything else. Trump wouldn't bother with the law.
2
It is WAY PAST time for Jeff Sessions to go.
In articles that I have read, legal scholars (law professors) have stated that Sessions did not have a valid and necessary reason to recuse himself. In recusing himself, Sessions effectively left Trump without an Attorney General for 2 years.
Sessions recusal was unnecessary, and extremely unhelpful to the president.
5
Sessions did in fact have to recuse himself as he campaigned for Trump and the inquiry is into Trump’s campaign. The same would have applied to Christy and Giuliani who were on the list for the job.
As the head of the DOJ, Sessions never worked on Trumps behalf, but rather on the behalf of the people. Upholding the law of the land includes ensuring that the chief executive does not abuse his power or try to work around the law.
8
@Tom Johnson Sessions is not trump's personal lawyer.
6
@Tom Johnson, DOJ regulations prohibit employees from participating in criminal investigations or prosecutions if they have a personal or political relationship with anyone or any organization involved in the activities under investigation.
There is a caveat that they could participate with written authorization, but it was never tenable for Trump to give Sessions a permission slip to not recuse.
2
Not sure if Sessions has started or not, but surely a book will be on its way, and he'll have some great comments on the "workings" of the White House during his tumultuous time before being fired. Being asked for his resignation and being fired, is there really any difference?
3
Now that sessions is no longer A.G. he is subject to subpoena and testimony by any legal authority, especially House of Representatives Committees.
11
@Bob
And Mueller's office. I don't know if there is anything (except morality and ethics, duh) preventing Mueller from releasing any interviews with persons.
I have been considering the possibility that Mueller has conducted a perpetually long investigation indicting pawns in the possible conspiracy with Russia, in order to be fired thus ending the investigation without a threat to Trump's position.
After all this time, Mueller has publicly charged the lower level pawns instead of keeping the known facts secret from the Chief. A dedicated investigator would have secretly sought testimony from those pawns to build a case against the President without allowing Trump to strategize a defense during the investigation. Mueller has been giving it away during the investigation to aid Trump.
2
@Shakinspear
Not a bad theory, considering Eric Holder did the same for Obama.
Republican infighting - Never Trumpers try to take down Trump and appoint Mueller to do so.
Trump campaigns hard and gets split decision on the midterms.
Mueller and the Never Trumpers then see no use in pursuing further, so they drop it and move on.
@Shakinspear I have suspected this all along...we shall see what happens next.
@Shakinspear, what are you talking about? This Country does not need another crazy conspiracy theory promoted by misinformed citizens. Let it rest, please...
4
The Con Don didn't waste any time trying to cover his sorry behind. OUR United States of America is in grave danger.
Will anyone in power have the honor and courage to stop him?
Robert Mueller is a republican. Do you suppose his investigation was a scam all along - that the Robber Barons planned it this way to delude WE THE PEOPLE into thinking something was happening to get The Con Don and his Robber Baron brethren OUT of OUR governments at every level?
There is an answer to stop this horrid example of a human being and his brethren. It will be a new answer for this unprecedented time in OUR story.
WE THE PEOPLE must DEMAND that OUR five living past presidents step up and take over management of OUR United States if they truly love this country.
NOW!
20
@njglea
That would be an unConstitutional
coup.
@Inkblot
This country was founded in armed revolution against a legally established government. There's nothing more American than repeating that process.
The forced resignation of AG Jeff Sessions was predictable and unavoidable. What will be the would be felon's next steps?
The new House should pay more attention to Trump's obstruction of justice rather than the inner distribution of new titles.
16
I can't wait for the book.
17
That is sick, Rocky star. Are you Russian?
1
Clearly, it has been communicated to Mr. Trump that the new Democratic House will be going after him hammer and tong, making the firing of Mr. Sessions, and even the expected dismissal of Mr. Mueller, at this point, of little consequence. On tap for 2019 are a very public House investigation followed by an impeachment hearing; long, drawn-out events, which will hound Mr. Trump for the full year leading up to 2020; and the baggage he’ll be carrying by then just may be more than the GOP will bear. Of course, the Senate – if the House even gives them a chance to act – would vindicate Mr. Trump of any House indictments, perhaps even award him a medal – but, by then, the damage done to his presidency will have been fatal. Given the no-holds-barred subpoena powers of the House, there will be little about Mr. Trump’s life that will remain unexposed – we may even get to see his tax returns! In 2019, there will be a lot of moral hand-wringing on the Right, but a tsunami of body blows from the Left, will – unquestionably – have the GOP wondering if handing Trump the renomination in 2020 really is in the interests of their “constituency”. Losing the House in these midterms is an event of historic significance to the GOP – and of far more importance that seeing the backside of Mr. Sessions.
53
@Bill Carroll I'm glad to see there are still dreamers.
3
I hope you’re right, but I have my doubts. At this point nothing can make the Repubs do the right thing or even think about dumping trump.
3
@Bill Carroll
'...the new Democratic House will be going after him hammer and tong,"
More likely going after him hammer and sickle.
2
Fridays are always indictment day for Mueller. I am waiting!!!
39
Despite repeatedly biases statements against Mueller's Russia probe it's obvious Mr. Whitaker won't recuse himself and likely promised as much to the president. He'll shut down the probe into Russia collusion if Traitor Trump doesn't fire Mueller first.
If Mueller is axed Americans should prepare to protest in mass.
45
@Emma Jane and everyone
https://act.moveon.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response-events/search/
1
Forwarded this link to 5 people. Hope everyone will do like wise. It's a constitutional crisis folks!
1
That was quick. Those who said after the midterms might not have realized it would be seconds after. That must be some built up anger in the president although he's made no secret of it. But with the Dems in control of House it won't stop the Mueller train.
The election thankfully will offer the check and balance necessary for government to function. Mitch McConnell has already come out with presidential harassment so no oversight there. He must be worried about his own vulnerabilities.
But the humiliating end to Jeff Sessions should be a cautionary tale to all who support Trump - he was one of the first loyalists on board. Legally he had no choice but to recuse or face his own jeopardy but to Trump, that's irrelevant. Completely fealty to him is all that matters and it is never reciprocated.
32
This is so clearly the act of a guilty man. In a way, that comforts me. For all Trump's protestations of innocence, he knows what he's done, and is clearly terrified that Mueller has got the goods (and/or that the Dems will get them come January). What's scary is that we must all wait to see the lengths he will go to protect himself.
Thanks so much, Republicans, for electing an unstable criminal to the most powerful office in the world!
76
@Jenna The problem is that now Whitaker, and Whitaker alone, has the authority to decide is Mueller's report is sent to Congress or simply buried or destroyed. Mueller cannot send it direct to Congress and can not even reply to a subpoena if Trump directs the WH Counsel to claim Executive Privileged, which he will certainly do. By the time the Democrats take control of he House in January, there is very likely to be no report for them to review.
11
@Jenna --- Wait!! I thought he was a stable genius, no??
@Ken Fair enough. That is terrifying. Also, the implications of Trump firing Sessions basically for his own personal protection, and then replacing him with a staffer who does not have Senate approval are now sinking in. And of course I have absolutely no faith in the Senate Republicans to stand up to Trump and tell him that this is not appropriate.
Again -- only glimmer of hope is that in January the Dems can investigate this kind of of abuse of power. But January is feeling further and further away.
The least surprised person in the world about this announcement is Robert Mueller. I'm certain that he as fully baked this into his timing and plans.
44
Thank you, @Mike B. Your comment helps to tone down my alarm and keep hope alive.
2
Hopefully the House Ways and Means committee will get right on checking out those tax returns, much as the Intelligence committee picks up Devin Nunez's many loose ends.
13
Perhaps Mr. Mueller will soon decide to indict Donald, ahead of Mr. Whitaker taking Mr. Session's title, since the midterm elections are over, and he won't be accused of election interference.
My prayer is that Donald is tried and convicted in NYC, his hometown. We'd like to keep an eye on him on Rykers Island for a while.
42
@MyOpinion Indicted and convicted of what?
@Bill Well, tax evasion for one. This NY Times article shows that it is a family trait, starting with Donald's father.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html?fbclid=IwAR3WU9vM2ycXQW6x15Qk3pwFVkPoIF_WVUaGtDOjHqWBE7vlQ8tGZ-hs-yI
Also, he has not abandoned control of his businesses. I'm sure his well-known craving for adoration and money is corrupting. It will come out as time goes on. When Mueller's Russian evidence is presented, Donald will be indicted, I believe for his Russian money-laundering.
In not considering Rod Rosenstein to act as attorney general until a nominee is picked, Trump shows his nefarious intent.
Congress had a bipartisan bill ready to protect the Mueller investigation. McConnell and the GOP rejected it, claiming that it was unnecessary.
That is no longer true. Call your members of Congress and let them know that you want them to protect the Mueller investigation. Especially if you live in a red state.
43
I lived through Saturday, October 20, 1973-Why am I having de'ja vue !
24
THE ONLY PERSON that stood up to him, is . This coupled witht the threat to go warlike if the house questions him. I think it is time that the Republicans start to think abou t doing something.
It is past the point of Trump keeping his name in the headlines. I seriously think he is coming unhinged.
12
"A former college football player and United States attorney, Mr. Whitaker...." What does Mr. Whitaker's college football playing have to do with his appointment as acting Attorney General? if he had played college lacrosse or golf, would it have been mentioned?
Playing college football seems to bestow some vague, implicit qualification for political leadership. Reporters should question their assumptions and reasons for mentioning such an irrelevant - and sexist - autobiographical detail. The name of the college and his academic credentials would have provided some minimal information about his suitability for his new job.
26
This is a great point. I’m not sure I would have noticed, to be honest, so thank you for pointing it out. It really is ridiculous.
3
@Barbara Kelly It highlights how unprepared the trump circus is in running our government.
If the US media had highlighted "donald trump, who bankrupted two casinos, ran a bogus university, and by his own admission molested women...," we wouldn't be suffering through this electoral college presidency.
5
@Barbara Kelly
Good eye Barbara. You are right.
1
It's plainly (and painfully) clear that Trump has wanted to kill the Mueller investigation any way he can. He's nursed that thought by squeezing FBI, and the AG office (both Sessions and his deputy), to discontinue the Mueller. He has very publicly disparaged Sessions for not shutting down the investigations. If firing one FBI director was not enough, Trump would gladly fire another FBI director or AG or Deputy AG in a heartbeat, has it not been the midterms.
So, he's counting on the fact that, come November, he'll fire everyone, and if he has the House in his pocket, no one can start investigations on him again.
Well, God might have delivered the "migrant caravan" as closing argument for his idiotic "policy" (if you call it that), but thankfully, GOP also lost the House, which means that if the Mueller investigation is indeed shut down, the Dems controlled House can start yet another one, not just into the Russian connection, but also Trump's taxes, and conflict of interests, and sexual misconduct. If those GOP's think Bill Clinton's transgression with Lewinsky is bad thing, they have not seen the half of it.
So, sure, fire away. Sessions will be gone, but investigations will not go away. Consider your notice served, Trumpians. (No, he doesn't deserve me calling him "Mr President" at all.)
25
This is a squeeze play forced by the Dems' control of the House. No need to fire Sessions as long as Congressional Republicans toed the line. Their unholy marriage of convenience with Trump has ended. It's every Trump for himself now.
5
Trump's action is a triumph of emotion over logic. Jeff Sessions served as a member of what has rightly been called the world's most exclusive club: the United States Senate. The other members will not take kindly to this being done one of their own, especially given the high standing he retained among the largely Republican southern delegation.
9
@Quiet Waiting
We can only hope!