If there was anything to the Nunez Memo than the Inspector General is the office that is supposed to investigate that.
Why would Trump have a problem with the IG investigating wrong doing? Because he can't control its findings.
The last paragraph of the Nunez Memo itself makes clear that the investigation into Carter Page started at least three years ago, before Trump hired him, and long before the Steel Dossier was written. It was begun because Russians were trying to recruit Page as an intelligence asset.
So the whole purpose of the Nunez Memo, which accuses the FBI of relying on partisan opposition research is a blatant and sloppy attack on the credibility of the FBI, to undermine the Russia investigation.
This is why Trump is angry that Sessions is not controlling that investigation.
Meanwhile somehow Carter Page, who is being investigated for possibly being a Russian asset is hired by the Trump campaign as a foreign policy adviser, with Trump announcing his hire personally, on TV. And Page lied to the FBI about his connections with Russia.
And somehow about twenty other people were hired by the Trump campaign, transition or administration who had secret meetings with Russians then lied about it.
The IG should investigate the Nunez Memo and figure out why Nunez is using the House Intelligence Oversight Committee to make sloppy political attacks on the FBI.
3
Sessions can't quit. I'm a Democrat and have disagreed with most of his points of view.
However, his desire to do his job properly is rare to find in Trump's administration, and I applaud him for it. His recusal was a smart move, perhaps a CYA move, but, it was absolutely the right thing to do.
Trump still hasn't grasped the role or rules of governing, and prefers to control like a boss in a crime family. Sessions, his first supporter, is the U.S.'s bastion against that.
3
Sessions appears not to be the helpless tool of Trump's nefarious strategies defending himself against Mueller's web of evidence closing in on Trump's future as our failed commander in chief. I credit Sessions standing up for himself, and his decision to allow the Mueller investigation to move along, unimpeded by threats from Trump to torpedo it
2
Let's cut to the chase with Trump firing Sessions, replacing him with Congressman Devin Nunes, who will then promptly fire Robert Mueller, which will set off a fire storm in Congress but Paul Ryan will take no steps to impeach Trump. All the Trumpites can then hope is that they hold onto at least the Senate or the House in November, and finally by some magic Trump limps across the finish line in 2020, even without Russian help.
2
Trump obviously doesn't even know that the Inspector General's Office folks are "Justice Department lawyers." This man's ignorance knows no bounds.
6
Trump is only tweeting out to his base, so when he is indicted they will come to his defence with the same conspiracy theory Trump is alluding to. This is just more lies, and manipulation of his core voting base, and his only defence when the facts don't work for him. Trump's standard business practice for years has been to: Lie, Deny, Bully, Threaten legal action, Lie, Deny, Deflect, "Obama/Hillary/ Sessions/DOJ/ FBI" double down, repeat. At this point I will be surprised if Trump is not officially indicted.
7
This certainly makes us appear as weak and screwed up to the world as we in actuality have become.
Trump's flapping mouth is a security risk at all times.
5
I keep reading about a President who continuously scolds his own appointees. Very odd.
2
Trump Calls Sessions’s Handling of Surveillance Abuse Allegations ‘Disgraceful
===========================
Where is the dignity of Sessions ?, even when accept to be a Trump sheep?
1
I think I actually felt a twinge of sympathy for bootlick Sessions when I read that he had been attacked on Twitter by no less a personage than hypocritical Trump enabler Falwell Junior.
1
Sessions does not deserve anyone' sympathy or pity. He has been a stain on public discourse and civil liberties for decades.
Sessions sought power beyond the backbench of the Senate where is reactionary policies and incendiary statements had landed him, and only someone like Trump would provide him with a national platform ( as well as for his staffer Steven Miller). Her perjured himself in his nomination hearings before he recused himself from the Russia investigation with the blessing of the GOP committee members. Muller will not be so forgiving.
Sessions is proof that you are never too old for the role of Icarus.
7
Congratulations Jeff Sessions for FINALLY standing your ground and doing what is right... and refusing to be bullied into doing what that puppet-master boss of yours wants you to do.
I can't speak for anyone else, but what I can say is, you look good digging in and proudly standing up tall for what's right... regardless of where the chips might fall!
2
This, among so many other things going on in the White House, does not do anything for confidence that our government is being led in a way that puts the nation ahead of personal agendas.
1
Sessions should be fired for a plethora of reasons.
1
Aw, it's just that trump's shorts are in a twist...he wants his own KGB and he wants it now, and he wants his personal hit squad to take out people who are mean to him. Now, now, now, and if you don't give it to him he is going to throw himself on the floor and kick his feet.
3
Mr. Sessions has earned my respect. Mr. Trump has behaved as he has all along – frightened of face-to-face confrontations, face-to-face discussions with people who challenge him in the smallest ways, and believing he is a tower of strength doing a great job when he takes to Twitter and publicly airs his acrimony with anyone who does not fall in line behind him, regardless of how off-the -all the situation.
His fear of personal interactions and of crossing swords with powerful entities like the NRA is an element of his weak character and wreaks of a personality flaw.
Mr. Trump is driven by the need to have familiar people around him whom he has ordered around and bossed in his private life. Hence, we see irrational choices like his personal pilot, John Dunkin, whom he wants to appoint as head of the FAA.
Mr. Sessions, stay right where you are and continue to set your sails again the big wind in the White House. We need you to continue to teach this man the rules of government and to continue to do what is right.
2
Mr. Trump thinks it is his Department of Justice. But, the leaders of the DOJ and FBI are sworn to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the U.S., not to have his back. Jeff Sessions seems to realize this. Even though I disagree with many of Sessions' policy approaches, I deeply appreciate his sticking to the procedures adopted for the DOJ. In many respects, this is the only thing between the rule of law and a bananna republic in our country.
1
Finally Mr. Sessions is standing up to his own ground, good for him.
1
...and Jerry Falwell takes one more big step out of his hateful, unChristian closet.
7
Since the Republicans are masters at starting inquiries over false issues seems like a no-brainer to me. Let’s have it on. Seems like a great way to waste the money and divert attention from their lack of ability to govern.
1
Trump is what he calls others: low energy, crooked, lyin', little, and disgraceful.
5
double check your info on Jerry Falwell, Jr. He is not an ordained minister, so calling him "Rev" is inappropriate. Don't let them accuse you of 'fake news'!
5
Whoda thunk this AG would finally do the right thing about anything thereby making himself politically incorrect in the eyes of his right wing division PC In Chief boss?
2
RDG--He did the right thing by recusing himself.
2
Clearly, King and Zeldin are congressional stooges with ample skeletons in their closets. As to Falwell, reverend, really? Just a life long conman trained by his nefarious father, and another in a long line of grifters including the Bakers, Robertson, and a multitude of TV evangelists duping their flocks out of millions.
8
"Integrity" and "honor" are NOT in the world of Donald Trump any more than they were in the world of Roy Cohm ... are in the world of Vladimir Putin et al.
Trump is well on the way to self destruction ... how many others will he take with him?
4
Please stop referencing this travesty as 'Shakesperian'. There is nothing Shakesperian about Trump. Nothing.
4
Why the gratuitous last sentence about Jerry Falwell? Who cares what he thinks? Has no relevance to the article and I'm tired of religious leaders "weighing in" on issues that are morally irrelevant. Quit giving them print.
5
I doubt Trump's intent is to scold Sessions, so much as bolster a narrative for his base.
Consider: twitter is his bully pulpit, and 'colloquial propaganda' is his style of delivery. I use the term colloquial because to me that's the most objective description of the way he speaks. I say propaganda, because if you examine crazy things he says, they ALL fall under one of several categories of propaganda technique.
Some examples of propaganda techniques he employs (based on propaganda techniques listed in Wikipedia):
1. Ad hominem: attacking the opponent rather than his/her arguments.
2. Labeling: Think “crooked Hilary”, “Lyin Ted”, “rocket man”,…
3. Scapegoating: blaming everyone but himself anytime something is wrong
4. Slogans: from MAGA to ‘king coal’ to ‘lock her up’
5. Smears: clearly what he consistently does with any authoritative person/institution that stands as a possible thread to him. Think FBI, Comey, Mueller,…
6. Whataboutism: need I provide examples?
7. False or misleading accusations: Obama spied on me; Ted Cruz’s father helped assassinate JFK, Obama forged birth certificates, Hilary sold uranium to Russia, Obama founded ISIS and ‘crooked Hillary was co-founder.
8. Exaggeration: crowd size, unemployment rate may be as high as 42%, 34 million illegal immigrants in US
In short, Trump may not come off as very intelligent, but he clearly has an uncanny ability to express himself in ways that have created a very devoted base.
6
It must be the fault of that porky little handed guy who said "I'm going to surround myself only with the best and most serious people". Now who WAS that guy?
4
It's fun to think about a bull in a china shop, but if you leave a bull in a china shop and the stock will wind up ruined.
2
To use Trump's parlance....
"L'il Donny" needs to understand that Jeff Sessions, the Department of Justice and the F.B.I. are not his personal legal staff or political cronies. They are public servants working for all Americans.
5
Remembering that Jeff Sessions was the ONLY US senator to support Dotard when he was a candidate, it is so fascinating to see this cannibalism in action! He has taken bites out of his staff, cabinet, supporters, wife, enemies, friends - like a omnivorous beast - tyrannosaurus? It is becoming so difficult to find the right words to describe President Dotard - erratic, mean-spirited, bigoted, dishonest, con artist, irrational. None of these words alone capture his prehistoric creature-like behavior. I vote for anthropophagite (look it up).
3
The “President” truly believes that the Attorney General’s role is to be loyal and his personal attack dog to investigate and prosecute anyone he does not like. The statements he has made so far prove that Trump is constantly attempting to obstruct justice. He has his republican friends draft a misleading report on the FISA court and the surveillance they ordered. He doesn’t seem to get that even if some of the information in that warrant came from some dossier that Mrs. Clinton may have had a hand in, it doesn’t change the fact that it was true and Carter Page is a criminal. It seems that Trump and his republican buddies are seriously afraid of him rolling over on Trump and doing everything they can to discredit the surveillance. When is enough going to be enough? How in Gods name can this ignorant, racist, lying criminal of a president, and his republican accessories in the cover-up, are just tried and locked away. Are we all not sickened by these people being allowed to get away with whatever they want, when anyone of us regular old American people would have been sitting in prison long ago, had we done half of what they have done? This abuse of power and criminal activity must end. Our ancestors started a revolution over less.
4
dummy has no idea how the government works that he's supposed to be leading. one minute whines nobody follows due process and the next minute wants to can due process. hires crooks. rips off the people. kisses up to our enemies.
why are we putting up with this?
4
The article’s summary of the House memo scandal, as a he said/he said issue, gives tacit credibility to the Nunes camp’s totally dis-credited and skewed version of the FISA red-herring. I like vanilla, but not in my journalism.
2
Karma for both men.
1
Two jerks walk into a bar and the first jerk says to the bartender, " hi, I'm president of the United States", and the second jerk says to the bartender, "hi, the the attorney general of the United States".
What a joke!
2
tbs--Wish I could recommend this one 100 times!
2
Don't forget that the Cabinet can vote the golf club king unfit.
Loyal Democrat that I am, I can only hope for a better Republican management of the next few years: Kelly, McMaster, Pence, and Mattis keeping the president contained within what Obama called "the crown jewel of the Federal penal system": the Oval office.
SOMEONE, take away the Top Secret security clearance of this salesman. He's USELESS.
Besides, he'd rather play golf.
1
It's not the same thing to call someone disgraceful, or what they are doing, disgraceful
Grow up ny times
You are absolutely guaranteeing another Trump victory by sounding like an Internet dummy
1
How much longer must we put up with the colossal buffoonery of Trump and his idiots in the White House? Not much longer, surely. The United States, meanwhile, has become a laughingstock around the world as a source of cheap and nasty theatre.
2
Catch more flies with honey...
I'm no fan of Sessions, but I give him credit for not giving into Trump's bullying.
Trump thinks if he piles on the insults Sessions will resign. What Trump doesn't see is that when you publicly shame someone over and over again, you just make yourself look rotten to the core. Hang in there, AG Sessions!
2
Mr. Trump is able to say and spell so well the word that suits him the most!
What a nitwit you are, Falwell...
2
fish out of water, I don't believe for a second that Jerry Falwell, Jr. is a nitwit, no more than I believe it of every evangelical "Christian" who support Trump. They are brilliantly working to protect their tax exempt status at the expense of the country. Another car on the despicable Trump Train.
2
While I am no fan of Jefferson Sessions, I really hope he stays put in his job. I would hate to see him step down or get booted...only to make way for an AG more custom-tailored to Trump's liking... an AG who would perform -- with blind devotion -- as the president's personal protector... modeled, as T fantasizes, on Roy Cohn. That 'dream-AG' would definitely not recuse himself from the Russia investigation -- and would fire Mueller or else impede the process in more devious ways (by cutting back funds, etc.). Mr Sessions, you are no hero of mine, but please hang onto your job.
2
The enemy of my enemy is . . . my enemy.
America should enjoy having the multiple branches of governemnt it does, while it can. Although I am not a fan of Mr. Sessions (his white sheet and hood are a bit to visivle for me), Mr. Trump is doing all he can to consolidate power unto himself.
3
While the Confederate elf Sessions and the Yankee thug Trump deserve each other's embrace, America is cursed by both.
4
Why do people think Trump's tweets are written by Trump. He is POTUS when last I heard. Instead of running the government he goes on attacking his staff incessantly on Twitter . That is so weird that I think a Russian outfit composes his tweets and post them. He is powerless to stop that. They got him by the proverbial .... . Imagine a dyslexic writing those tweets, and posting them at weird hours in DC ? Prosecutorial ? Wow, confefe, you have improved !
Why expect this dictator in waiting to understand ethics, Session's appears to be one of the few republicans who understands their duty is to the constitution.
Donald Trump is now in his second year in office and in his "terrible twos".
2
What's disgraceful and worse is Trump and Kushner's abuse of their positions. The American people are being scammed by these crooks. No greater crooks are there than Trump and his family. Why isn't Congress doing something about this wholesale theft? Perhaps Trump is afraid of AG Jeff Sessions and that's why he continues to tweet these foolish statements. I may not agree with some of AG Sessions' personal beliefs but I do think he's honest. He needs to be protected from the likes of Trump.
Why has Sessions continued after being so humiliated? The stench of his association with this administration will cling to him forever.
JohnHenry, I believe Sessions is removing himself from Trump's tyranny without having to remove himself from his position. He has finally earned and will continue to earn my respect by holding his ground while doing the job of Attorney General.
I hope he is an example to some of the remaining sheep in the White House.
1
Trump has not only managed to turn the presidency into a bad idea of a reality show, but a bad idea of a soap opera.
The show pitch would go something like this:
Lunatic president constantly runs amuck with finger on nuclear button as he connives his way to emperorship while his lackeys refuse to tell him he has no clothes on because they have no clothes on either as they claw their way over each other in a game of palace intrigue, in which the presidents daughter keeps telling us to eat cake while the president lusts after her and his queen silently carries on an affair with no one.
2
If a playwright submitted this script no one would produce it. Who would believe that an American Presidency could revolve into a farce of a tinpot dictatorship. It would, at best, be recycled into a 60-second Homer Simpson dream sequence — President for Life!
2
Disgraceful? Yes, Donald Trump is a consistent disgrace.
1
Like many commenters, I feel a tiny bit sorry for Mr. Sessions, to my surprise. I have one question--what is Jerry Falwell, Jr. doing in this article? Why is he worth quoting? And why does he have the last word? He is a know-nothing president (like DT!) of the lowest rated college in the country.
2
“ ... end-up like a dawg that’s been beat too much,
‘Til you spend half your life tryin’ to cover it up, now ... “
More silliness. Innocent people do not come unhinged over an investigation. The more Mr. Trump squirms and lashes out, the more guilty he appears. I was hopeful that Trump would be found a little dumb but essentially innocent. As he attacks Sessions over not sufficiently attacking his enemies, it's getting harder to imagine that outcome.
2
Go figure. The Keebler Elf has a spine. He's actually doing his job as head of the DOJ, pledging loyalty to the country not the president. Supposedly his department gave him a bullet proof vest with his name on it. Too funny.
2
The debasement of certain individuals--slither front and center Evangelicals--during this man's presidency is astounding. "A dog's obeyed while he's in power," wrote our guy Will. Yup. Trump barks and hard right salutes. Be careful hard right--he doesn't want your salute; that dog wants your bended knee and he's already eating your dinner.
1
Is Trump using his attacks on Sessions and the Justice Department as a rehearsal for his later lines in which he will shout, "I'M INNOCENT, YOUR HONOR, I WUZ FRAMED!!!!"
1
Trump is not the king of America. He is only the president. I don’t like Sessions but He is attorney general and Deserves respect as such. Trump
Is a corrupt and inept leader less able than his AG and certainly less intelligent. Of the two Sessions, I hate to say, is the better man. When is the incompetent corrupt Republican Congress going to wake up and impeach their crooked leader? They have ruined our government in less than a year.
3
Trump will soon enough be losing his mind, again, on twitter: I just saw a photo on tv of Sessions and Rosenstein having dinner together this evening! Jerry Falwell's conspiracy theory will now become grander in its scope and its deflection quality, and will be raging all over right-wing/trumpland tomorrow.
2
Governing by Twitter! How crude, ridiculous, weak, demeaning, juvenile......I'm ashamed and embarrassed for my country.
2
A marriage made in heaven. You deserve each other! HeeHee
We are now just getting started.
The fake Trump/Russia collusion nonsense investigation has only succeeded in uncovering that the Democrats purchased Russian propaganda and then used that completely fabricated set of lies with their media sources to damage Trump. In addition Demicrats appear to have used this nonsense dossier to bring to bear the power of the intelligence agencies to spy on a political opponent before the election and to harass a duly elected president after his election.
Sessions is a swamp creature.
The swamp is in self-protection mode.
We were never supposed to find out how our Democracy is being manipulated.
But we have, and there is no hiding it now.
Emperor Trump doesn't yet, after a year in office, understand how the American form of government works. So Sad!
4
Being a Trump toady is not for everyone; it requires an exceptional degree of humility and devotion to the Master. Little Sessions is showing he can do it, he can be a humble and faithful lackey who never dares raise his voice and knows how to take, ever so meekly, the lashing his Master's whip - which must feel, oh so good! All the lashing gives Sessions fortitude, the humble fortitude he will need to keep on worshiping the Great Con Man come 2020.
Sessions is going to flip. This is going to be a spectacular take down of the Trump project as the skeletons Trump tried to bury are found.
1
“Disgraceful” twitters and tweets a flawed leader who daily disgraces our Presidential office.”honor and integrity” defends AG Sessions in a government infected with toxic shamelessness, in a promising nation divided, from its beginnings, and dynamic development, by inadequate constraints over its ever present WE-THEY constructed, and sustained, culture which violates selected
“ the others,”Daily. Then.Now. Tomorrow?The twaddling tweets, untempered, are reported daily as if they merit analysis. As unlikely as their progenitor being able to benefit from anslysis.He, elected by the many- misled, and the many visible and hidden misleading, is a danger to the American Dream; turning it into a nightmare during daytime hours.Which all of US, each in our own ways, and roles, enable. By complacency for some.Wilfull blindness by others. Deafness to a cacophony of both voiced and muted unnecessary pains experienced, increasingly, by many. Strangulated silences by so many. Infectious, anchored, ignorance which enables alt-facts to dissemble a mixture of facts, fictions and fantasies transmuted into cancerous certitudes. Poetic caveats of: “ the center will not hold,” and “fail better” are not and effective balm during these ummenschlich times devoid of personal responsibility for harmful words and deeds.What will we tell our grandchildren about our expressed as well as unexpressed behaviors during this era of...? Honor and integrity? Disgraceful? Who? When? Self-deceit?
“The president’s tweet reveals that he really doesn’t understand how the government works and how the Justice Department works,” said Michael Bromwich
Anyone who needed this "revealed" to them needs to have their head examined.
Sadly, Donald Trump exemplifies the czars who rule corporate America.
1
Why expect anything different? This administration is a catastrophe and will only get worse.
1
---trump has called Sessions weak. Disgraceful. I'm of the opinion that more thoughtful, cognizant minds would characterize the president himself in those terms. trump's motivations in excoriating the A.G. are transparent and self-serving.
Disgraceful.
2
I just wish to have some clarifications:
The "dossier prepared by a former British spy paid by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign" was'nt initially offered to Republican contenders of Trump (ie Senator Ted Cruz) before the GOP race was over?
If this is a fact, then it should not be forgotten and remainded in each and every quote. Thanks.
3
It's always about Trump. Always. Every time.
2
Much as I lose no love on religious bigot Sessions, I do despise the way Trump manhandles him. He is after all AG and Trump’s treatment of him to me constitutes an obstruction of justice for which Trump deserves impeachment.
2
The president’s tweet reveals that he really doesn’t understand how the government works and how the Justice Department works,” said Michael Bromwich, a former department inspector general.
That is it in a nutshell. POTUS is clueless as to how our government works, and remains happily so without any feelings of his needing to step up and learn something. I guess since Putin is such a loyal supporter he thought he could just run our government like Putin. What's next? Poison umbrella tips for dissenters?
2
He didn't call the Attorney General disgraceful
He called his actions disgraceful
Its not Shakespeare - it is more the Roman Senate.
Es, tu?? Comes to mind.
I think looking back, it is clear that the POTUS now regrets many decisions he made during the transition and right after inauguration.
First, like the nation and include me, he was stunned by the election result.
It appears that while they had done all kinds of damage control scenarios to shield him from expected defeat. No one including himself, it appears had prepared a road map - if he wins.
So, in euphoria of moment, he appointed Mr Sessions who was first out of the gate from D.C. establishment - so to speak to support him. It may be that the POTUS did not even know that an AG is nation's law enforcement officer and not his personal lawyer.
Ditto for Mr Priebus - whose name he did not know how to pronounce. And of course, Mr Bannon - the ultimate "es, tu" if there was one.
Mr. Bannon instigated the "travel ban" which was not thought through at all.
And then of course, this AG recusing himself - that the POTUS confused as if his personal attorney would not defend him.
It's all too late.
And like in case of some broken marriages, they have to live with each other.
Mr Sessions has burnt enough bridges in Congress that his K Street career is dead if there ever was one.
And the POTUS has not built any bridges at all to burn.
So, we will witness this drama, I predict, till after mid term. And then, we will get a new AG.
1
There is only so much fakery Mr. Trump can peddle on Twitter before people get wary. Those people who buy into fakeries, well, they just continue to be oblivious to reality. They are very few. Fakery afficionados will be worried that truth seekers will smell a rat. They are also few. Truth seeker will always figure it out eventually. They are the vast majority.
Numbers speak for themselves so in the end, the truth can never be fooled.
1
Mr President, if you don't like what he didn't do or hasn't done, then let him go and stop all this drama!
For Donald Trump the difference between running a company and the country is limited to the ability of frequently hiring and firing (most of the time inadequately chosen) people. Bad manager, bad leader!
1
The President's berating of Sessions just demonstrates that Trump is an equal-opportunity bigot.
Just another sideshow to the continuing circus of the Trump Administration.
I wonder if Sessions has made the decision to quit catering to Trump and start obeying the law? I desperately hope so.
1
In a week of unrest at the Whitehouse? With this group, when hasn't there been a week of unrest?
Trump seems a little too determined to undermine the FISA warrant on Page. It seems more and more obvious some very incriminating information must have resulted from that warrant. Mr. Mueller's temperament and respectability is the great counterbalance to Trump's moronic attempts to undermine our system of justice. Those who believe Sessions has undergone some sort of transformation need to look a little harder.
1
Trump and Sessions are equally despicable, but Sessions is smarter (most people are). There is no one to cheer for between these two, nor in this entire administration.
Things are pretty bad when you begin to feel sorry for Jeff Sessions.
2
Every morning I wake up to another episode of the Donald Trump show: "I am the President". It the consequences were not so potentially devastating, I'd laugh at the madcap antics of Trump, Ivanka Junior, Eric and Jared. Today's episode: "Mr. McGoo"!
Yet, while this whole opera plays out, while we marvel had this level of ineptitude, the Trump administration has successfully been rolling back our civil and constitutional rights one by one. Add to that the damage to planet earth and our health! Case in point, yesterdays accomplishment, Labor and the Supreme Court.
If this is really Trump's plan, than he's played us all (including the media), for suckers, though I'd like to believe he's just as clueless as he appears.
Only time will tell.
1
"Disgraceful." "Crooked." "Lying." etc. etc. When criticizing others, Trump always manages to come up with excellent descriptions of himself.
1
The basic fact is that the FISA warrant was not "wrongly obtained." All of the allegations to the contrary are merely transparent deflections ultimately designed to undermine the Mueller investigation. Not only should there not be a special prosecutor named to look into how the FISA warrant was granted; there should not be an examination by the DOJ inspector general as well. Neither is warranted. Neither is appropriate. The current IG investigation was always just a bone thrown to baying partisan dogs. All the questions raised about the FISA warrant to surveil Carter Page are just so many Republican efforts to muddy the waters and sabotage the Mueller investigation.
2
Sessions is not Trump's lawyer.
What Sleazy Don failed to realize is that the more he attacks Sessions for DOJ's independence, the harder he is making to fire Sessions; any attempt by Trump to fire Sessions now appears to be attempts to further Trump's illegalities.
Now that Sessions is immune to his daily insults, Sessions might just completely ignore this president altogether.
2
Our law enforcement agencies and courts are under attack by a man who believes he was anointed emperor. November can't arrive soon enough.
1
What a mess America is in. The good news is we are still standing even as Trump is collapsing.
1
The damage Mr. Trump is doing to our democracy is unfathomable and incalculable. That this want-to-be dictator has support among lawmakers, religious leaders, and voters is incomprehensible.
The man reaches new moral and ethical lows every day, and all very publicly. Yet he persists and we allow it.
For the life of me, I cannot understand how as a nation our morals and ethics have sunk this low; Russian meddling, anything Obama or Clinton did, or gender politics, notwithstanding.
The man and his supporters have made depravity commonplace, the norm, accepted, seemingly not even rising to comment.
The lie is now the truth and the truth is now the lie.
This is a sorry state of affairs we find ourselves in as a nation, as a society, as a people.
MB
11
I am no fan of Jeff Session but at least he is doing his job. The one who is "disgraceful" is Donald Trump. Also I notice that the very religious man Jerry Falwell Jr. is a supporter of Donald Trump. Once again follow the money, Falwell is enjoying the tax break signed by the very religious Donald Trump.
4
How about top security clearances for presidential candidates? White House aides must have clearances, yet presidents do not. If a criminal sits in the Oval Office, then security clearances for his staff are kind of moot.
One of the beauties of our system is that it allows for change when necessary. If we've learned anything this past year, it's that we need more common sense in our political process.
(And hey, how about Civics 101 for presidents with no government experience? Jeesh!)
4
I think at this point Sessions just treats Trump like a nonentity.
"The schism between Mr. Trump and his attorney general has become a persistent subplot of his administration, an almost Shakespearean rift between a president and one of his earliest and strongest supporters."
Shakespearean indeed. The bard was adept at writing to appeal to the common, masses pointing to our human flaws, often base, comic and absurd. Then he would hold up our ability to strive for higher achievements with insight, integrity and honour. Such is the tension in the White House.
Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, and in all probability associated with other organizations; violates the IRS code regarding exempt from taxes organizations from being involved in any political discourse. His voicing his opinions in any political discussion, most assuredly sways peoples minds involving these political issues. He can't claim that he is exercising his Constitutional Rights to freedom of speech because of all of his tax exempt affiliations.
5
In Europe it would not be possible for a senior official to remain in office after receiving such a public dressing down by the head of his party or the leader of the government. He/She would out a sense of honor and self-respect immediately submit his/her resignation. I have no case to make for Trump and his public emotional breakdowns, but for Sessions to remain in office, shows himself as a small man concerned only with office holding.
Have to disagree. This is a capricious and probably criminal Trump we are talking about. Sessions may be staying for the good of the country and not himself.
1
I'm feeling sorry for the little guy. Although he was an early Trump supporter, it's beginning to appear, in a surprising ironic twist, that he may be one of the very few in Trump's cabinet with any integrity.
4
I believed that after Trump's last public row with Jeff Sessions over the Hillary emails that the only thing that was keeping Trump from being impeached was that he didn't fire Sessions. Sessions was a long-time Senator, with many, many friends in the Senate and House. Trump had better be ware of how he treats Sessions, because if life in the White House becomes intolerable for Sessions and he resigns, Sessions' friends in Congress are likely to be more inclined to remove Trump who has demonstrated over and over again that he is not mentally or intellectually fit to be president.
1
This gets added to the preponderance of evidence that Mr. Trump does not respect the law, understand the government, and that he is not fit to do the job.
5
Finally the Times asks the question of why Trump presents his demands on Twitter rather then in the more effective established channels of Presidential authority. I’ve asked myself that question many times during his term, and there is only one reason I can think of. He needs to trigger his base and activate the propaganda machine to smear his opponents before he can make suspicious or illegal decisions. If Nixon had had the power of Twitter and the Fox Propaganda Network at his back, he never would have been impeached.
5
There's another reason. Twitter is a very convenient vehicle for cowards to talk tough and bully others without ever having a face-to-face confrontation. Sound familiar, Mr. Trump?
Mr. Sessions- You should have known what you were getting into when you hitched yourself up to Trump's wagon during the campaign. You have been involved in politics for most of your adult life. You had a safe seat in the U.S. Senate. Prior to the election you had to notice that Trump had little or no knowledge of how our government works. You also should have realized that his departures from the truth would continue. The mean streak was well in evidence too. Now to help the country you must hang in there and outlast him.
2
“It’s incredibly demoralizing to have the chief executive of the government not only not understand and appreciate what you do, but attack what you do on a constant basis,” Mr. Bromwich said.
Consider the source. Consider the man, not the office and shrug it off. Stay true to your principles and do your work. Anyone who lets himself be demoralized by a man like Trump has skin too thin to be in public office.
1
Someone somewhere should remind Donald Trump that he is President of the United States, and that as such, it is his job to run the government and to supervise his subordinates. If he feels something should be done than he should order it. Should the subordinate refuse, he can fire him. But only a real loser insults subordinates in public.
Apparently Mr Trump feels like he can get away with pretending to be an outsider in the administration he was elected to run. This kind of behavior might wash in a political campaign, but coming from a President, it's bush league and amateurish, only displaying why he should not be in the position he holds.
7
Donald Trump is still the boss. He believes everyone must follow his dictates. He has repeatedly attacked anyone who cares to challenge his extreme authority. He is in the same class as Putin and Kim. The Congress must impeach him now and save our nation from this Fascist.
7
Hey c/mon Trump, Sessions is a closet racist and reactionary but is technically qualified for his job and trying to act professional.
Trump is a bigot, rabble rouser, pathological liar, philanderer, admitted sexual predator, ego maniac demagogue.
I think I will side with the former...
6
The Fool President is attacking the wrong people. He continues to to be mean towards those who supported him. Big old fool President.
1
How frustrating it must be to perceive yourself as Emperor and still have subjects in your realm who don't vow loyalty to you, even if it would be at their own peril. Trump is so self absorbed that he didn't even know everyone's name at his grand "Bipartisan Gun" Policy meeting...had to ask Diane Feinstein who it was that was speaking. And when John Rutherford (the unknown R rep from FL) gave Trump a commemorative bracelet, he pocketed rather than putting it on his royal wrist. The man has no compassion, couth or loyalty to his country...and we know that he wants to get rid of Session and drill down to Mueller.
3
What quality organisation condones the boss tweeting his thoughts to the world about the opinions or actions of one of his senior employees rather than discussing their points of difference face to face, then working out a way forward? If I did this in my firm, staff morale would go through the floor and I’d be forever listing job ads for senior staff; with all the loss of corporate knowledge that entails. It’s a losing strategy. Can’t this bloke see that? More to the point, how do his colleagues support this management style? Bizarre in the extreme.
9
I am going to offer one crazy idea that is not without merit:
Trump has long ago coaxed Secretary Sessions into agreeing to accept and not get his feelings hurt every time he reads a negative tweet about him from his boss.
Trump: Hey Jeff, the job is yours. But I need a big favor.
Sessions: Sure, what's that, Mr. President?
Trump: From time to time, I am going to criticize you in public. But don't mind me. Don't take it personally. This is my way to distract the public from the hot issue of the day. Trust me. I know the world of media. And I know how to manipulate them. In fact, this is how I won, and this is how I am going to get your dear-to-your-heart policies passed. Are you willing to pay this little price price for the bigger prize?
Sessions: Sure, Mr. President.
3
If Sessions had any honor he would resign. Trump keeps talking about "due process" but he has no idea what that means, and his usual blather would do away with it. No sense in this administration of anything right or moral, and aided and abetted by the GOP in Congress.
1
Could this be a ploy to have Sessions resign, then Trump can nominate the next AG who would fire Mueller? Remember Trump said on national TV: “if I knew he (Sessions) would recuse from the investigation, I would have picked somebody else”.
How long will it be before Trump accepts the reality that he's the elected head of only one branch of government, and not a dictator - regardless of how badly he wishes he were one?
7
The secret of Trump's success is his inate ability to make friends; people are naturally drawn to his personal warmth and compassion. These personal qualities, along with his deep knowledge of history and understanding of current issues, serves to disarm his opponents and often turns them into staunch allies.
Oops! Sorry, wrong president.
6
Sessions isn't going to leave until he has effectuated enough policies to maximum profits on his private prison investments.
1
Won't someone please give that person in the White House a glossary of political terms that are succinct; in alphabetical order. Something a first grader would understand. He can't seem to understand that whatever the position, the person holding it is loyal to our country and most assuredly not to any individual.
The fundamental problem is that "justice" in the US is highly politicized. But when you give judges power over politics the inevitable side effect is that politicians will want to influence the justice system.
Unfortunately it seems like the worldwide trend still is to give judges more power over politicians. In the end that serves the 1% as it throws up obstacles for any politician who wants to introduce reforms.
1
Trump is making Muller's job much easier. The President's tweets may not be obstruction of justice but surely interfere with it. I also want to point out that Sessions recused himself from the Putin affair but would make an excellent witness in the case for presidential obstruction of justice.
2
Sessions can't quit. His desire to do his job properly is rare to find in Trump's administration, and I applaud him for it. His recusal was absolutely the right thing to do.
Trump still hasn't grasped the role or rules of governing, and prefers to control like a boss in a crime family. Sessions, his first supporter, is the U.S. ' s bastion against that.
3
What kind of President disparages his own appointees on a regular basis? The choice of the Republican Party.
4
Why, Trump picked Sessions to bury the Russian probe - and the latter would have done so too had the former not fired Comey! Funny how things work out after all!
7
There is no justification whatsoever for Trump's misbehavior and abuse of Sessions, Horowitz, and everyone else he has insulted since he took office.
He has turned out to be one of the most despicable beings I have ever seen. Almost all of his original staff has quit, and he will have a problem appointing others to work for him.
He is an insult to our country, and the world.
Sadly, Trump is neither deserving, nor fit to be President.
21
By the time the Trump - Sessions schism reaches the dead end the charges of obstructing justice against Trump will appear more convincing; but how Sessions justifies his own hasty decision of extending support to Trump would still be embarrassing to him personally.
4
Trump is so bad that he makes Sessions seem like a thoughtful, sympathetic public servant. Without Trump, I could never see Sessions this way.
28
I still don’t.
President Trump has no respect for the A.G. because he has no respect for the law. All Trump respects is loyalty, on a one-way street.
27
And when that loyalty is all used up he hangs you out to dry.
Why does Donald Trump trash his own cabinet members? Because he can. Why doesn't Donald Trump criticize Vladimir Putin? Because he can't. Unless he's okay with Putin spilling the beans on Trump's nefarious dealings with the Russian prime minister. Trump is simply adhering to the old adage: Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
37
Sessions has been around politics for a very long time. Trump may not be wise to mess with him.
9
How out of touch is this president for attacking his own attorney-general (of whom I am not and never have been a fan; just the opposite) because he sensed obvious potential conflicts of interest in his involvement with investigation of Trump's Russiagate government scandal? Naturally -- to Trump this is natural -- the president considers Sessions' resort to basic legal and governmental ethics and standards "DISGRACEFUL." (The ALL CAPS are his.) As to my question how out of touch is Trump, the correct answer: beyond measure.
24
You can always gauge Mr. Trumps panic...
As Robert S. Mueller Russia investigation inches closer towards the President and his inner circle, Mr. Trump's whipping boy, A.G Jeff Sessions reappears for another Twitter flogging.
RICH
33
I'm almost feeling sorry for sessions at this point
In reply to "“Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? ". Why are you asking us?
14
Simple. He is asking us because he does not know his job and have no idea what to do. The guy is an infantile ignoramus, trying his best to look and sound like a clown.
An "almost Shakespearean rift?" Puh-lease! Don't disrepect the Bard. This is just Moe slapping Curly again.
56
Haha, well said!
1
JS to DT, "Please, sir, I want some more."
4
You can almost feel Trump's sweaty palms. What is he so nervous about?
17
"The Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University, suggested that Mr. Sessions had never really supported Mr. Trump in the first place."
How rich. As with the Parkland students, the future belongs to the youth in this country, and I will support them till the day I die:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/10/12/liberty-is...
15
WHY?!
says man-child.
Gee, maybe you could like, ask him.
Or, cry like the baby that you are on Twitter.
22
I can't think of anything more disgraceful than a president publicly humiliating one of his hand-picked Cabinet members.
27
Yeah, I thought he knew all the best people. His lies are piling up. His goose is cooked.
More disgraceful? How about voting for an obvious lying, narcissist, unqualified, sexual abuser as president?
1
I wager Sessions is trying to salvage what might be left of his shredded legacy. As he weathers the tweetstorms and follows the law, he buys Mueller time to proceed. If he is fired by trump, at least history will record that, in the end, he tried to do the right thing. This whole administration is crazy in a Shakespeare kind of way., like Richard III. I wager too that Russia is indeed laughing at us. Hysterically.
16
Donald, you are not a king. I know its hard to accept.
But even a king does not berate and insult publicly his supporters ... unless he cares not for their support.
A tipping point is near. The floor is littered with Trumps discards. Soon they will rise up...it will like be The Walking Dead...except these zombies will talk.
27
Trump will regret ridiculing Sessions. While Attorney General this little fella isn't forgetting these public insults. Per SNL, he's got 'possum in his lineage.
22
POTUS has managed to manipulate the media again. In order to discuss the Trump-invented "dispute" with Sessions, he has manipulated the mainstream media into bringing into the public forum front and center the Surveillance Abuse that the Deep State has been involved in. Think not? Look at the NY Times article headline. Much of the public did not even know about the accusations of FBI/DOJ/Clinton surveillance of the Trump campaign until this moment. POTUS: Thank you NY Times for doing what conservative media was not able to do--bring the surveillance crime allegations into the light of day.
9
So, the Chief of Secret Police has fallen out of favor with Fearless Leader. Shy doesn't Trump fire Sessions? Does Sessions know something?
9
He sure does. He is head of DoJ after all. Fire him and he may squeal to Mueller. Hence Trump is powerless against JS. Read JS's reply carefully.
I just heard that Trump's nic name for Sessions is Mr. Magoo, hilarious!
I believe it's all going to be over very soon as more indictments come down and people start talking in order to save their skins as they realize this president is not worth spending the rest of their life in jail for.
17
Several commenters have expressed sympathy towards AG Sessions. To my eye he deserves no sympathy whatsoever. He is pursuing a policy agenda that is absolutely malevolent.
I expect that Sessions (as are several other cabinet heads; Pruitt, Zinke, and Tillerson come immediately to mind) is putting up with the abuse as a 'deal with the devil:' he will endure tantrums from an ignorant and immature president specifically because by retaining his position he will be able to push through an agenda too extreme to have stood any other chance of being enacted. When he feels he has gotten enough of his regressive policies in place, he will resign. Up to that point, he will swallow anything Trump serves him.
33
Possible that Trump would be even more miserable if Sessions hadn't recused himself.
There's a lot to criticize about Jeff Sessions, going way back, but he should be admired for his principled defense of the Justice Department.
4
Who ever expected Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III -- the Southern scoundrel whose racist talk prevented him from being appointed a judge -- to have subsequently become the voice of reason and right on the side of Justice? Only a bigger fiend, one who was never foretold in history or fiction, could have turned the likes of Sessions into a bona-fide good guy.
Sessions was a U.S. Senator from Alabama for 20 years until appointed last year to head Trump's Justice Department. As U.S. Attorney General, Sessions is America's highest-ranking authority of law, order and justice.
I have to believe that the specter of Richard Nixon's own Attorney General turned-Criminal Defendant must hang before the eyes of Sessions. For the role played by AG John N. Mitchell in Watergate and related crimes, Mitchell was marched off to jail for 19 months. Who could possibly be worth that fate? Nixon was not. And Trump crumbles in comparison to Nixon's statesmanlike command of foreign affairs.
Did Sessions know what he was getting into? How could he not, playing as large a part as he did in Trump's campaign-rally cries and witnessing his candidate's subjugation to Russia?
Maybe Sessions let his own ego go to his head. It's certainly hard to feel sorry for him. But it's a relief in knowing that, for whatever reason, America's Attorney General and Justice Chief has discovered he actually has a red line --
and that Trump stands on the opposite shore.
12
Another manufactured distraction by the Trump Show. Don’t fall for this nonsense. I don’t believe they are feuding for one second.
4
America Calls Trump's Handling of... Pretty Much Everything... "Disgraceful".
12
donald trump can't stand being alone with his thoughts. does some nagging demon trouble his soul, or is he simply a consummate performer, a man who ceases to exist when the audience goes away?
20
Trump is making another desperate attempt to replace Sessions with someone to steer Mueller away from Trump's Russian financial ties.
FOLLOW THE MONEY.
17
It sure looks like Trump is seriously guilty of something. No doubt about that.
Sessions really has nothing to lose by doing the right thing. the more trump attacks him the less he has to lose. His politics are disgusting, but at least he has some idea of how the Justice Department should operate independently from the WH.
12
Day after day, week after week, month after month, crippled year upon crippled year the evidence of criminal wrongdoing, grotesque ineptitude, cultivated thuggery, and general numskullery and skulduggery piles up and still we do nothing.
Wake me up when the "handling" happening is trials, not just for the entire First Family, but for the GOP handlers enabling them.
Without accountability, there is no coming back from this.
28
Does Trump even know what he’s talking about? Some Republicans complained about the FBI. The Attorney General asked for an independent review at the highest level. If he had limited it to an internal investigation, Trump would have ranted about that. Completely off the rails.
11
Didn't the so called president ban the use of these words in DOJ Communications?
appropriate process
fully and fairly
fair and impartial manner
law and Constitution.
If not, expect it to be done.
5
We learned about "a system of checks and balances" in school. "Checks and balances" turns out to be an accounting term.
7
Why has mainstream media on both sides moved to uniformly declaring the Fusion work as something paid for by Clinton? As far I understand, the funding for the Fusion work on Trump first came from conservatives.
14
I have no idea. To add to he mystery, why does the MSM accept that “no votes were changed” whenever yet another story comes out about Russia hacking into 31 different state voting booths and voter registration. Any report is immmediately followed up with “no votes were changed”, with no proof. How do we know votes weren’t changed? I think they were. Same goes for why the walk on eggshells around Mike Mother Prince as if he was innocent in all of this. Mike Flynn didn’t lie to the VP. Pence is in on all of this and just as guilty as Crooked Don. I will not accept Mike Pence as President when Crooked Don is cuffed and frog marched to jail. This entire administration is a fraud, fake, illegitimate coup.
Donald Trump is disgraceful. How can people support this man and the awful things he does? If he doesn’t like Sessions, why doesn’t he fire him? Why badmouth him in tweets like a punk teenager? I wouldn’t want to put my neck out for Trump either if I worked for him. He’s shady. He’s liable to get people in trouble. He will push a lawyer to violate his ethical obligations. Sessions is crazy for staying in that job, but he’s right to keep Trump at arms length and not let Trump put him in a position where he will have to do things likely to get him disbarred or worse. I wouldn’t want to be on Trump’s sinking ship. That guy is probably the worst thing to have ever happened to the Republican Party.
12
Jeff Sessions: "...I will continue to discharge my duties with integrity and honor." I'm afraid he lost what was left of his already tattered integrity and honor the day he became the first U.S. Senator to endorse Trump's candidacy.
17
Perhaps the primary difference btn trump and sessions is that sessions knows what honor and integrity are, perhaps as a distant memory, even as he chose to abandon them in following trump, trump has never known either honor or integrity, forget decorum.
8
Throughout the presidential campaign, Donald Trump supporters insisted he was loyal to a fault. We have come to see Trump’s loyalty only goes to those few who give him unconditional fealty—even then, Trump’s loyalty is for his own gain.
Jeff Sessions may get the last laugh on this. Sessions knows as long as he weathers the insults, and stays in office, Robert Mueller will keep his job. What better pay back could Sessions have to Trump’s debasing tirades?
11
Trump must rue the day, he appointed Jeff Sessions as his Attorney General. He seems to be the only honest broker in Trump's cabinet refusing to back down when his Boss is humiliating him for doing the right thing. I hope is thick-skinned enough not to resign because this war can be won only from the inside. His pursed non-smiling lips show the determination of a man to to do right by the people, going strictly by a due process. Trump can rave and rant and call him 'disgraceful' or anything else. But those are the words of a coward, running scared. If he fires Sessions, Trump will be hauled in front of the Justice Committee, especially with special counsel Robert Mueller about to make a complete swoop.
5
President Trump should have spoken to Jeff Sessions privately about his displeasure with his handling of surveillance abuse allegations and not In a public tweet. Mr. Sessions was the first and most ardent supporter of President Trump when others were quick to criticize and refuse to support his presidential run. He should not forget this and treat this man with the respect and dignity that he accorded Mr. Trump. Loyal employees are difficult to find. To his credit, Mr. Sessions did not back down in his handling style and was not afraid to speak up to Mr. Trump. Mr. Sessions is a rare find today.
5
Observing Jeff Sessions in the context of the Trump administration, it's hard to find just the right phrase for the impression he makes.
My enemy's enemy is my friend?
No honor among -- deplorables?
Everything is relative?
Something similar holds with John Kelly. Neither he nor Sessions would ever have inspired even the mild sense of solidarity I feel now, were it not for the context established by Donald Trump. Sessions at least draws the line at flouting the rule of law. Kelly at least draws the line at letting the Trumps make fools of us all.
http://thefamilyproperty.blogspot.jp/2018/01/the-voyage-to-restoration.html
3
I would have some respect for Trump if he resigned, and even more relief that our country will get back on track.
1
Sessions is a George Wallace clone. That's why the GOP loves him. They would like him to remain as Attorney General into the Pence administration. So they can continue the George Wallace policies. However, besides the GOP in congress who love Sessions, a good bit of Trump's actual base love him too. Why was Sessions the first to back Trump? Because Trump was speaking to Sessions' base. I'd like to see Sessions gone. They are not sure that Trump is toast yet, but just in case, they want Sessions to hang around to continue the hatred campaigns.
3
Gosh. To think that Jeff Sessions would become a sympathetic character. The world is turning upside down.
11
A quick look tells me that there is only one person in the Trump administration that you could call politically experienced and that is Sessions. All the rest are totally unqualifies for the jobs they are in, including the President himself.
4
Has anyone at the times tried to do some charting of the-not-exactly-Presidential tweets vis a vis the release of bad news implicating Trump associates: DO they peak after some particularly embarrassing episode? After the Donald has been forced to act like an adult for a day? Or simply after he watches FOX & Friends?
15
We're living in an alternate universe. How can it be possible that our president condemns the attorney general, whom he appointed, via a tweet. Trump's lack of respect for the office of president, lack of understanding for the constitution and the concept of the rule of law, and lack of ability to perform the duties of his office are beyond belief. Not to mention that he has tried to monetize his position for personal gain . . .
When will this nightmare be over ...
71
If he'd taken a US history class he would know there are three branches of government and he doesn't control all of them.
53
If the GOP have their way Crooked Don will control all 3. They have given him control and protection of their majority share of the legislative branch. They have allowed him to stack federal courts with absolutely unqualified fake Christians and they stole s Supreme Court dear. So I would say Crooked Don is well on his way to controlling everything, unless the very few decent republicans in the DOJ and Robert Mueller can stop him.
I’m nauseous at the thought that this could be a tactic—we know Trump has no attention span for strategy—to put Jared Kushner in as Attirney General.
He’s a lawyer. AG is the President’s choice. Hope Hicks is resigning with intriguing timing.
Then I awaken from the painkiller-induced, periodically bizarre dream state I’m in as I recover from knee surgery.
And it still makes sense. Where’s the ginger ale?
28
Ginger Ale, all by itself, won't do it.
4
jared kushner is a lawyer? He never practiced law? He is in debt to the tune of about 1 BILLION dollars on his building at 666 Fifth Avenue. Not a very smart lawyer...or a very smart ANYTHING. And who, in their right mind, would buy a building with the address of 666????? EVERYONE knows to keep away from anything with the numbers 666!
1
We all know Trump declared financial bankruptcy numerous times. Now, in plain sight it is a total moral bankruptcy. He cannot and will not get out of this mess he has made for himself.
41
Sadness that our nation has become the prey of unprincipled actors, and intense and deepening anger the silence of and compliance with an executive branch that constantly threatens the foundations of the United States of America.
Jeff Sessions, whom I personally dislike and disagree with, is the first to speak up for integrity in fulfilling his office.
What is congress, particularly the House of Representatives, and specifically Paul Ryan so fearful of that courage is lacking in defending the nation and people they have sworn to protect.
29
I must say I love the humiliation Sessions must be feeling.
19
Trump can't wait to step down so he can put an Attorney General in his place that would shut down the whole Russian investigation
Trump is as obvious as my three year old grandson when he is caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
What a disgrace to this great country!!
22
How much longer must we endure this Trump?
21
Jeff Sessions has to deeply regret accepting the post of attorney general when he was in a much better standing as a senator. Who would have thought that his relinquishing of that senate seat would have resulted in a Democrat later assuming it. This man vigilantly extolled the president during the 2016 campaign and in return he becomes Don's little punching bag. A sad fate indeed for the gentleman from Alabama.
10
Information has leaked to Trump and he is running scared.
14
Sessions will follow the rule of law. He's a man of deep Christian faith, and the most important aspect of that faith is integrity. So he will do what his job description tells him to do. He is also a patient guy.
One of the accusations that is swirling around is that Sessions was asked by the Never-Trumpers to insert himself into the Trump Campaign with the purpose of keeping control of the legal aspects of the Trump administration. These folks were worried that Trump might turn the DOJ into what Obama turned it into -- a personal attack vehicle against his Never Trumper critics. So the GOP Never-Trumpers needed an insurance policy, and that policy was Jeff Sessions.
Everybody knew that it would be truly difficult for Trump to fire his Attorney General - with memories of Nixon's firing of the Special Counsel still fresh in anyone's minds. So the key was getting in there. Both sides of the aisle voted him in.
Accusations are common in Washington; Sessions' was accused of speaking to the Russian Ambassador after a social gathering of diplomats from various countries, and not treating that as "speaking to an agent of Russia" when asked -- a simple definition mistake. Who thinks of an Ambassador as an "agent"? Dems made it clear that this WAS a "big deal" however.
So he recused himself using that as the excuse. He could have used another excuse, but that was the best available. His role was one: keep a lid on anything erratic from Trump.
He's going to go eventually.
4
Your assertion seems extremely far-fetched.
By the way, Sessions lied not once but numerous times about his personal meetings with Russians. You seem unaware of that. Sessions himself may be under investigation for impeding the early stages of the Trump/Comey investigation.
1
"Sessions will follow the rule of law. He's a man of deep Christian faith, and the most important aspect of that faith is integrity. "
And I guess another important aspect of Jeff Sessions' deep Christian faith is RACISM. Somehow, and correct me if I am wrong...INTEGRITY and RACISM do not seem to go together.
3
You must think we are idiots. Sessions met with the Russians at least twice and they were on his calendar. This wasn’t a casual bumping into, as your Russian talking points would suggest. Sessions, Bannon and Miller have been meeting for years planning a takeover with the Mercer money as backing. Sessions recused himself to get the democrats and the media to shut up about the fact he committed perjury under oath before Congress. It worked, because for some reason the democrats and media, refuse to go all in on these crooks and traitors. Oh and as for Sessions being a man of deep faith and integrity, if that were so he would never have endorsed a Crooked Don in the first place. A man, with zero integrity, principle, morality, need I go on?
2
It's interesting to see how Trump has completely obliterated any sense of decorum from this White House. Trump must enjoy hiring people who aren't really qualified to fill their positions. Then he unleashes tirades when they aren't doing the wrong thing. i.e. Trump's demands. I pity any competent employee in this administration. They have to navigate between the fickle, callous treatment from Trump or the solid investigation of their actions in the NYT or WAPO when they kowtow to Trump's edicts. It's the Lose-Lose box. Remind me again, Resident Trump, when does the winning start?
13
We have fires burning everywhere.
Last week, 20,000 elk dropped dead of a disease unleashed by global warming. Yesterday Sam Walton sheepishly acknowledge his company walked off with 29 billion dollars from the "tax" bill. Today ICE raided 150 families in a sanctuary city in California. Kushner has blatantly broken the intent and details of the Emoluments Clause. Four countries are on record for planning to exploit his "inexperience" and greed. On record. That's why the EC was written, to prevent that very scenario. Sessions gets hauled on the carpet for being the only person in that White House capable of following rule of law. The survivors of a bloody massacre were offered comfort dogs, ponies and a goat (no, you literally cannot make it up anymore) and were surrounded by men with guns just to add to the warm and fuzzy milieu.
Meanwhile, down in Dixie, what is the left doing to put out this conflagration? Why what else but cannibalizing each other over an absurdly trumped up "outrage picnic" because one candidate was chosen over another. Gee. I wonder why the Republicans keep winning?
15
Trump treats the Presidency as a side job that he's doing as a favor for all of us. In his mind, we are all lucky that he's tolerating all the great inconveniences the office has thrust upon him. To Trump, the AG is no more important or sacrosanct than a lackey junior partner at one of his personal lawyer's firms. Trump's astounding levels of pure gall and massive ignorance have never previously reached such heights in American government. He will definitely go down in history as more than a footnote. His presidency is the most likely since FDR's to eventually result in a new constitutional amendment further restricting and policing the office.
13
How much humiliation can Sessions take? He is the laughing stock of the country.
6
It’s not Sessions who is the laughing stock of the country. Most people feel sorry for him.
2
After pursuing a Sherman-like siege to all the government agencies, even those hand-picked by him to wreak disaster, like the legally-challenged Sessions, Trump says even they can't cut the mustard! Enough of this madman laying waste to democracy already. Can we pay Mueller and his team of attorneys overtime to get this dangerous cretin and his destructive underlings out of office before it is too late? This would be an example of tax dollars well spent. You can even include it as part of the budget for defense.
12
Don’t cry for Beauregard. Trust us progressive Alabamians— he’s earned this karmic debt.
28
I didn't realize until now that Trump is just like the Ouroboros, the snake that eats it's own tail.
10
If Trump hates it, Sessions is on the right track.
11
Trump calls Sessions "disgraceful" ???
Theres' more than enough "disgrace" to go around in that White House, starting in the Oval Office.
16
Politics makes strange bedfellows. Right now, Sessions is an important figure for the left. I want him to stay. He's one more layer between Trump and Mueller.
I say, Jeff, you're the safest place you can be. Let Rosenstein be Rosenstein. You're looking one of the members of Trump's administration who won't get indicted.
4
I'm sure I'm not the first to comment here that Trump's intention is to humiliate Sessions so that he resigns and Trump can then appoint a friendly AG who will then squelch the Russia investigation. Why am I now thinking of " I Claudius " and the backstabbing Roman Empire. Hmmm. Who's next? Caligula?
15
In the case of the Justice Dept representation,Trump thinks its not about we the people but about I the person.
6
Sessions, the guy who identifies the voices in his head as God (and follows a supposed god made in his elderly white southern image) is only marginally better than Trump.
Trump, following the religious metaphor to its conclusion, actually follows Satan. His formula for success is to always take the easy path and never give in to considerations of morality. "Evil, be thou my good" (Milton, Paradise lost) etc.
What a sad situation, when we have to rely on the less bad to prevent the truly evil!
24
"disgraceful" is one of the few words in Trump's limited vocabulary. He uses it a lot. It's kind of a tell that he's lying, isn't it?
17
Just imagine if Trump had the courage and mental capacity to face journalists in an honest-to-goodness press conference. Just a few of the matters ripe for “discussion”:
1. His public lambasting of his AG
2. The withdrawal of his son-in-law’s security clearance
3. Guns
4. Mueller indictments
5. Rob Porter
6. Porn stars and Playboy bunnies
And those issues are from just the past few weeks.
38
Trump's attack on the FISA court through Rep. Nunes, suggests he fears there might be some more wire taps yet undisclosed of other Trump team members. Better to muddy/slander the court now before other incriminating transcripts surface.
21
Trump gets more unhinged and further pushes the acceptable bounds of the presidency the closer Mueller gets to his immediate family and perhaps himself. This will certainly get worse before it gets better. And by better I mean a clean bill of legal health (made myself laugh) or the complete extirpation of this cancerous presidency.
20
Donald is toxic = venomous, a fer de lance. He's a man of modest intelligence who thinks he's very smart, is often confused, is truly out of his league, and doesn't know what he is doing. He has no plan, no direction, no respect, no honor, no loyalty, no insight, no integrity. We whip ourselves every day asking, "How is this happening to us?" We are burdened with a president who earns our disrespect every day from day to day and who is simply beneath our national dignity.
43
Trump is the animal on the chain in the Elizabethan bear-baiting arena. These are bonds of his own making. Bit by bit, Mueller is tightening the metal ring around his neck, so he strikes out at Sessions--his favorite target and whipping-buoy. That's how I know the Mueller circle of evidence and guilt is tightening and tightening...
12
Just more proof that Trump will happily destroy the lives and careers of anyone in order to protect his family from prison. In the case of Sessions, however, it’s a pure joy to watch! It couldn’t happen to a better Klansman!
26
Trump is loyal to no one, not us, not the U.S.A. Putin maybe, dossier in hand.
15
There doesn't seem to be any limits to the humiliation Sessions is willing to accept. Says a lot about Sessions. Poor guy going down in shame.
5
Everyone, including the media should ignore Trump’s crazy man tweets. By his throwing them into cyberspace the public is exploited w/ his daily garbage. In the near future there should be a law passed so that politicians (or @ least Presidents) cannot use Twitter or messenger.
5
Between Hope Hicks making a fool of herself and Manafort being indicted in a number of new issues, clearly Donald is feeling the heat. Her forgets that half of the things Mueller is investigating are being done at the state level, so if he goes, the investigation can still continue, especially in NY!
19
WHo'd thought? I feel a tiny bit sorry for Sessions. Is he getting tired of being Trump's combination water boy and whipping post? Maybe it is getting time to need to "spend time with family"? What a nasty ending to his career.
5
There seems to be no limit to the amount of humiliation Jeff Sessions is willing to take at the hands of this "president."
5
Trump is getting very angry, and very scared. He's desperate to turn the Mueller investigation off ... and this sure isn't going to do it.
The sad irony here is that not just our intelligence agencies, but just about every national intelligence agency in the world, knows far more about what the Russians were doing (and who they were doing it with) than the American public. And of course the Russians know!
The scent trail of the Manafort indictments points straight at Jared Kushner and Little Donnie. Flynn and Gates have flipped; we don't know what they have to offer.
It's hard to imagine Manafort doing the omerta thing for Trump or the Trumpkins. Why would he?
If Manafort thinks he might get pardoned just turn him over to Schneiderman in New York. Indeed Schneiderman is free to charge him anytime ... for instance if Trump pardons Manafort or fires Mueller.
At least 8 M$ of Manafort's money laundering was done using New York City real estate: bought by foreign corporations he owned and then quietly deeded over to him.
In New York State money laundering anything over 1 M$ is a 24-year maximum sentence. An otherwise unremarkable perp out in the western part of the state just got sentenced to 16 years for money laundering 4.2 M$.
And there's no Club Fed in New York State.
Manafort will sing, wait and see. And Trump knows it.
20
Why would Trump express his anger on Twitter instead of just speaking to Jeff Sessions?
And does Jeff Sessions have a spine? How can he take being publicly humiliated over and over again?
8
He shows spine in not resigning. Cm by cm, he's gaining my respect.
3
It's worse than disgraceful. Democrats have shown that they can't be trusted. When they are caught they conduct investigations composed of investigators with political bias. It's not hard to predict the outcome.
Look at Mueller's team investigating Russian meddling. Of the 17 lawyers most are Democrats who have made significant contributions to the democratic candidates.
1
There are now five members of Trump's inner circle who have PLEADED GUILTY to lying to the FBI about their contacts with Russian oligarchs. How can that not concern you? Further, Mueller is a Republican, a widely respect career public servant, and a highly decorated war hero. How could you possibly believe the proven liar Trump over Mueller's meticulous investigation? There's a word for your behavior...can't think of it...but it's something to do with a basket.
OK, so someone classify this pattern of abuse. Beyond passive aggressive bullying. Sessions cannot get his senate seat back, so he is basically floating the only boat he has.
4
Mr. Sessions was expected to be a hack AG, especially on matters of race. He is a conservative man, but he consistently defends the rule of law. He has defied Trump more than any other cabinet member. And where there is an ethical question, he takes it on directly without inserting politics into the matter. Mr. Sessions has done his job as well as any recent conservative AG. And those who dreaded his appointment should admit that he has proved himself an able, if conservative, Attorney General.
4
What's really "disgraceful" is trump's lack of leadership.
I wouldn't have voted for Mr. Sessions. And he may be caught up in the peripheral Russian entanglements.
But so far, Mr. Sessions is the only appointee to stand on some law before power.
Sessions has exercised the right calls on issues that I would never have thought he would. I am glad for that and I hope Sessions does not allow himself to be pushed out of office by bullying tweets and public condemnations that demand he be trump's hit man.
7
The truly "disgraceful" thing is that we have a president who either doesn't understand the rules and processes by which our government runs, or that he doesn't care about rules and processes.
4
What a guy President Trump is! Lying, mud-slinging, and making enemies on a daily basis one tweet at a time
Trump has always created enemies as a foil to deflect attention from his staggering corruption and folly. As the Mueller investigation closes in, Trump's rants--like Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, are getting more frequent and worse. Embarrassing to have a U.S. president act this way.
However, if Session is getting smeared and insulted by Mr. Trump, then Sessions must be doing something right.
Now if Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell would only grow some spine, like Gowdy and Grassley, and stand up to Trump's wrongdoing, the Republican Party might be able to save itself.
My bet is it's not gonna happen. Why is the bigger question?
10
Haven't we learned to mainly ignore President Trump? What he says and does isn't news; it's part of an old tiresome childish pattern. I want things my way NOW.
9
It's a sad but true fact.. people that elected him are either seeing they messed up or are still on his side. I don't know what to think of this child anymore...
3
Trump or the US president and cannot be ignored - he knows this and uses it for all it's worth...
3
Trump doesn't care about the law or the constitution Mr. Sessions, your defense of it means nothing to him.
7
Mueller is coming for him and Trump is in a panic. Hold your place, Sessions.
We will be watching with great interest.
17
Gotta play to that base. Especially now that he's decided to run again.
4
How dare the president "WADE" into the management of the justice department.
Just because the Justice Department is part of the executive branch of Government; Just because The president is the chief executive officer or as Harry Truman said the buck stops here. The temerity of Trump to act the part of a chief executive and seek to manage one of his departments.
Does he not know that he is President in name only and only until the impeachment process can be fully implemented. That Trump should act like he is the President only as insult to the injury that he was elected.
1
Most presidents try to maintain arm's length from the internal machinations of DOJ.
7
Jeff, you knew he was a snake when you first cozied up to him. Nobody gets near this guy without paying a price, a heavy price, and that includes not least those who support him. He has zero gratitude or grace. But again, you knew that going in.
13
It is good to see the president taking an interest in the activities of the lawyer run justice dept. which is often guilty of witch hunts. President Trump could be aware of the words of late American newspaper publisher Edward W. Scripps who wrote "The lawyers are known to be liars. They know they are known to be liars. They constantly practice falsehood and false pretense. From among these men we select our judges."
2
the LOUDER the tweet..the closer the trail....sweet.
12
Trump expects everyone - 'Obama guy'? - to act in as partisan and irresponsible a manner as he does.
14
For all the humiliation that Sessions has doled out to others over the course of his public life, I wonder how he feels when he is on the receiving end from the POTUS. This is KARMA!
20
There is a memo on the way to Nunes that will fix this. Fox campaign starts at 7.
6
Has any man debased himself more than Jeff Sessions? Has he no dignity?
7
Yes, that man who trumps Sessions in debasement and lack of dignity is Donald J. Trump.
2
Trump apparently thinks Sessions should take the fall by supporting his dirty dealings. And Kushner is falling as well. Sessions has been disgraceful from day 1. Why is he such a weak person that he does not just tell Trump where to get off and resign. I dislike Sessions very much, do not even like the look of the man, but on this one Trump is as usual worse.
5
Sessions has done nothing disgraceful since taking this office. Recusing himself, if that's what you're referring to, was by the book, whereas Trump's ire at Sessions failing to act as his personal errand-boy and henchman is misguided and ignorant. Telling Trump where to get off and resigning would be weak in the extreme, kowtowing to petty tyrannical whim instead of upholding the law and the office.
Trump wants Session to quit so that he can replace him with an attorney general that will fire Mueller.
17
When does Sessions get a bellyful, and decide simply to lower the boom on Trump?
5
Republicans don't lower the boom on their own--and that is our problem right there!
1
Is Devin Nunes on deck to be the next AG? The arc of shocking developments with this administration would suggest so.
9
Ask any HR professional or successful business executive whether or not it’s either professional or productive to publicly berate your subordinates on social media. It’s not.
Donald Trump is an embarrassment to the United States, and so is the Congress for doing nothing to put an end to this historic travesty and breach of American values.
This President and Congress has ensured I will never vote for any Republican for the rest of my life.
14
How much self-respect does one need to resign?
3
Mr. Trump is again losing his nerves. He is in a hurry to get rid of Mr. Sessions, to replace him with someone who could fire Mueller. Recent news suggests that ship has already sailed; that is, his goose is already cooked!
8
How much obstruction of justice is enough to get the attention of the enablers in Congress? How many times has Trump thrown one of his earliest supporters in Sessions under the bus already (and he keeps getting back up, onto his knees)? This ought to be a loud warning to anyone clinging to DJT what is coming to them, but they'll continue to bury their heads in the sand. My country has become a sick joke.
7
“It was not immediately clear what prompted the president’s outrage over Mr. Sessions...”
My guess is that Trump’s outrage was another blind rage hissy fit, this time over Jared’s demotion. Trump appears to get angry a lot, over any number of issues large or small, and when he gets angry, he lashes out indiscriminately. My fear is that Trump is like an animal at bay, and the closer Mueller gets, the more Trump will try to destroy everyone and everything around himself.
10
#45 is just upset JarVanka is being compromised.
8
Ca so an someone in the White House please inform the President that the Attorney General is not the President’s lawyer. His job is to represent the people.
12
I hope Sessions don't resign and give trump the opening to appoint a stooge
8
“As long as I am the attorney general, I will continue to discharge my duties with integrity and honor, and this department will continue to do its work in a fair and impartial manner according to the law and Constitution.”
Read, in another way: “As long as I have been the attorney general, My boss has continued to ask me to discharge my duties without integrity and honor, and has asked this department to continue to do its work in an unfair and partial manner, disregarding the law and Constitution.”
I’m NO fan of Jeffy but, on the surface, he’s doing the correct thing.
7
Another count on next year's impeachment resolution - attempting to exert improper influence over the DoJ.
4
Where are the “integrity and honor” in serving this president under these conditions?
2
Trey Gowdy, who was so partisan and unfair to Hillary Clinton, has become a champion of the Justice Department and Special Prosecutor Mueller. Is it his decision not to seek reelection that has freed him from being a Republican "attack dog," or has he always had a sense of fair play and belief in the rule of law?
How wonderful it would be if other Republicans would follow his lead even if they are running for reelection.
9
Days without the President making an inflammatory comment: 0
12
Trump claims he would have "run" (ha! run! Trump!) into the Florida high school "even without a gun" and taken care of that shooter and yet he can't even will himself to have a man-to-man meeting with Sessions and voice his concerns that way. No. He's got to twitter like a teenaged girl having a hissy fit. Anyway, all of this madness is coming to a messy end. Bad hombres like Trump & Co. usually wind up devouring one another. Sessions just might decide to come clean for Robert Mueller and blow Trump in. Jared could end up finking on his father-in-law. Junior will probably "crack like an egg," just as Bannon said, when Mueller decides to put him under the lights. Movie producers will cut off their left arms just for the chance to make a film of this madness.
10
I strongly suspect that Trump fails to realize that (1) he can fire Sessions; and (2) that the Inspector General is the exact person to investigate the allegations in question. Also, that he can fire and replace the IG.
1
Mr. Trump has yet to learn there is such a thing as separation of powers, trias politica, and that he is not to use his freedom of speech to attempt a bridging of the gaps. This country is not a construct for experiments in provisional governing.
5
I’m sooooo over all of dt’s antics. Mr. Sessions, tell him to go pound salt. He’s a bully AND a moron. Just quit. Does anyone need a job this badly?
I just can’t watch it anymore.
1
Trump is livid and properly so. Would Eric Holder have recused himself if Obama were being investigated on mere allegations with no evidence? There is no collusion. Never was. So Sessions had no reason to recuse himself. That opened the floodgates and the media has invented a scandal. The process crimes Mueller has already gotten pleas on are ancillary to the campaign. That is why Trump is angry. I'd be angry too if I were him.
This is absurd, Steve. IF Eric Holder had been a major member of O's campaign and had been directly involved (and even implicated!) in the issues that were to be investigated, OF COURSE he would have recused himself. Why? Because that would be both the Law and constitutional/historical custom. And all of these conditions existed for Sessions in this case, let alone that the issue being investigated is direct conspiracy and/or "collusion" with our national adversary to tamper/meddle/attack/alter our national elections as loudly identified and declared by our entire national security apparatus.
Do you even hear yourself speak, Steve??
8
Mr. Trump has always conflated agency officials' duties to the United States with duties to the incumbent president. He also conflates the interests of his party with the interests of The United States. Not surprisingly, he conflates his personal financial interests with the financial interests of The United States. He sees anyone who disagrees with him as an enemy of the state. I suspect that were he able to get away with it, he would jail his critics and political opponents. After all, he ran on a platform of "Lock her up."
I'm no great fan of Jeff Sessions, but I have come to admire his integrity since he recused himself from the Russian investigation. He has resisted firing Mueller. And most of all, he has stood firm in the face of presidential threats and invectitude. I once thought of him as a political puppet; he has redeemed himself in my eyes.
5
Following the law?! How dare he
3
I have this vision of our WH turned into a Roman coliseum with Trump pointing Thumbs Down for all the Democrats below in the arena whether they won the game of sports or not, and only pointing Thumbs Up for those members of the GOP who bowed from the waist at the start of each game and yelled out "Hail Trump!" over and over until everyone in the audience was forced to clap or had their names taken down for future Trump persecution and condemnation.
The bodies are starting to pile up in the arena below, but there is only Trump Law ruling throughout the land and it is not written down as Trump changes the law daily based upon a whim.
5
Kati: My apologies. I mispoke. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is one part of the various documents that comprise Canada's Constitution Act.
The continuing Jeff and Donald show is pure distraction, nothing more. Our AG has his own political agenda, much of which overlaps with Trump’s, especially regarding immigration policy, illegal and legal.
Despite Trump’s tweets, they need each other, and both of them know it.
2
A leader, executive, administrator, you name it, this pretender in the white house is not one of these. His total inability to manage people reveals a man who is in reality unable to manage anything. The tragedy of this period in American history is that we have a controlling political party unwilling to put the safety and well being of this country ahead of their own petty desires. A good number of the Republican leadership is guilty of obstructing justice. Will they pay?
5
Ahem, the real question is why the AG is even referring a made up false allegation.
BTW, it is clear that Sessions was not in that collusion thingy, but had heard about it. That's why he got out of the way as soon as he could and punted by the way of an Independent Counsel, and now of the Inspector General.
4
That icky feeling when you find yourself rooting for Jeff Sessions.
13
Mr. Sessions.....your statement today showed a flicker of integrity and a resignation letter would be nice.
1
It always looks like Trump is obstructing justice.
4
Trump acts like a man in a sinking boat who just can't stop himself from bashing more hulls in the tattered hull.
4
The title of this article, ‘Disgraceful’: Trump Attacks Sessions Over Wiretap Inquiry, needs to be adjusted -- ever so slightly -- to make it more accurate … here you go: Disgraceful Trump Attacks Sessions Over Wiretap Inquiry
12
Rich coming from a man who defines the word disgraceful
9
"Disgraceful" ? What does Trump know about gracefulness ? He is and always has been disgracefulness incarnate.
6
President Trump is obviously attempting to get Jeff Sessions to resign so a more favourable AG could oversee Muellers investigation Plaudits for Mr Sessions resisiting this treasonous behaviour
8
Sessions is just the kind of right wing zealot that Trump normally admires. What are the chances that this anger toward Sessions is just make believe for all of us gullible fools?
3
Obstructionism and attempted obstruction...the president is no attorney but does like to throw lots of ice cubes under their moving feet.
Trump is destroying American institutions faster than Putin & Co can pay him to do it.
This 'president' is wholly unfit for any leadership position, and so is all the GOP who serve him.
Vote in November. Vote them out.
11
So what skeleton is in this Trum's closet?
2
Jeff Sessions: Donald Trump’s punching bag.
2
It is going to be so satisfying to see him indicted and impeached. Your time is almost up Donny....hope you enjoy federal prison.
3
Why?? Because he wants to take a nice, objective look at YOU, home boy.
1
Trump's jealousy and insecurity about President Obama is just pathological. Additionally, how about you do your job, rather than worry about these investigations...Oh, wait. You're worried because you're actually GUILTY! I can't wait to throw my impeachment party. This country needs a do-over.
5
I think most people have had it with Trump, including AG Sessions. I want a list of the names of people who supported this idiot and the politicians who enabled his rein of terror. I want this list for future generations to reference to see where their ancestors stood during the age of Trump.
5
I kind of feel the same way. Normally I can agree to disagree and put aside political differences. Political differences don’t usually get in the way of friendships for me. Trump supporters though, I can’t be friends with them or meth users.
It’s one thing to have voted for him because you just despised Hillary Clinton or because you are a hardcore Republican and have to vote for the person with the R beside his or her name, but if you support this guy and the awful things he does there is something deeply wrong with you. You should not be trusted. I don’t want you around my kids. I don’t want you in charge of anything. I don’t even want to know you.
2
Has the White House physician been monitoring the Fake President's blood pressure lately? He must be nearing pre-stroke territory, as the Mueller Investigation accelerates and the "shoes" start dropping with regularity.
The remaining days of the Trump Family Criminal Enterprise are, thankfully, winding down. A national holiday should be declared when this daily grotesqueness has finally ceased.
5
As much as I dislike Jeff Sessions, I have to sympathize with him a bit. Trump’s bluster has to be getting a bit old. Trump is also disingenuous and phony. If he is so disgusted with the AG he should fire him. Trump has an itchy tweet finger and reacts stupidly and impulsively. There is no rhyme or reason behind his excoriations other than wounded feelings. Tomorrow he’ll be extolling Sessions for going after Clinton or Obama. This is much sound and fury signifying nothing! Sessions, having no self esteem and many axes to grind, endures the humiliation. Let’s hope that when Trump truly NEEDS a break, Sessions won’t cut him one.
2
Liddle Donnie is upset with Mr. Sessions. Isn't that just precious? Trumps tweet, is another puerile assault on checks and balances, aside from being just another hunk of red meat tossed to his base. Second guessing your own AG is bad business. Suggesting there may be impropriety because the I.G. is "an Obama guy"? Really, Mr. President? You haven't done your homework, Mr. President. The Justice Department doesn't belong to you. It belongs to We the People.
3
Until Sessions stands up to Trump, Trump won't respect him, will bully and humiliate him.
John Gotti behaved with more class than Trump. He is a tin pot dictator who will eventually be disgorged from our system. But what price do we pay until that happens?
3
In technical terms, this is known as the pot calling the kettle black. In street lingo, both oughta be locked up.
2
All a game to get Sessions to resign, then replace him with....drum roll, please......Chris Christie, whose second order of business will be to end the Mueller investigation.
Don't do it, Jeff!
2
Say what you will, but the presidentis accomplishing what seemed like a virtually impossible feat. He's transforming Jeff Sessions into someone you could almost feel sorry for.
4
Enough. If anything, they are both "Disgraceful".
2
Trump the Bully is acting in a manner that all bullies act; bullies can not help themselves -- they bully people. Finally Sessions stood up for the institution of the DOJ. It is such a disgrace the wreckage that Trump is inflicting on all aspects of our constitutional democracy. At least the Governor of Washington State told Trump to his face; "Less texting and more listening."
1
Sessions gets bitten by snake, again.
1
Bless his heart...
Some months ago in these columns I wondered whether, if you gave Trump enough rope, he would eventually hang himself.
Yet again, our manly man flexes his masculinity through the index finger sending a Tweet. Wow! Such Courage. It may not be long before he projects his masculinity again. He may send over a lowly body guard to fire Sessions in the same way he fired Comey. A bogus he-man for the ages.
The way he's exploding on Twitter, it makes one wonder how much dirt on Trump is sitting on Carter Page's private email server. I'll guess we'll have to wait for WikiLeaks...
That Tweet has a lot of big big words in it, are we sure Trump wrote it and not someone like Hope Hicks?
The dude with bed comb over is being a bully toward someone that he picked for the job, he is getting mad that he can't be judge and jury and the guy with the axe. He is acting like he is more special than any other president than and that his pouty tweets are being fed to him by someone else, not his own original thought..... Maybe the mob has the goods on him or something?
1
Actions speak louder than words. Once again tweedle trump, demonstrates he's a trigger happy goon, brimming with subterfuge.
Could just be Trump's bone spurs acting up.
1
These outbursts surely suggest some sort of mental incapacitation. I'm guessing that if it weren't for an equal, if not greater, threat from the sane but dangerous Pence as a replacement, this man would have been strait-jacketed by now and taken straight to St. Elizabeths (DC) or Bellevue(NYC).
Oh, God, when will this disastrous presidency end?
1
Hey Melanie...a cyber-bully is picking on AG Sessions. He goes by the twitter handle of "real donald trump." Can you stop him?
2
Ironic....instead of obstructing justice, Trump is PLEADING for justice.
The lies told to the FISA court by the FBI is disgraceful.
Trump and company fling mud and slander and resist the ongoing investigations, now bolstered by GUILTY PLEAS from every direction, and you call that "pleading for justice"? You might try thinking a little outside the basket.
I hope America's voters have learned a lesson about hiring a hotel builder for President; kinda like hiring a plumber to pull your teeth.
1
What else would one expect from a would-be dictator who is a narcissistic, delusional little inept man. After all, this is a country with the rule of law, isn't it?
Kudos to Jeff Sessions for finally showing a little backbone. His loyalty should be to the COUNTRY, not the Dotard. Let's see if this is just another planned distraction or the real thing. As Mueller gets closer to nailing Trump, Sessions will have to play a greater roll.
Will Justice rule? Tune in for the next Mueller news and Dotard Tweets! Geez, sounds like a TV drama, with our lives at stake!
2
Can someone give Trump a dictionary? I am bored of his overuse of the word disgraceful. His use of it? Disgraceful.
1
Gee - I'm having a bad day in the press. What pillar of American justice and fairness and democracy can I undermine to distract everyone? I sometimes hope that Trump runs out of democratic institutions and traditions to sabotage, so that he will finally stand naked to the world, who will be forced to face what a pathetic person we (maybe) elected. But at that point, we will have allowed him to irreparably destroy the foundations of this country. No, we can't wait that long - every day he is in office damages the future of this country for generations to come.
Put Trump in a playpen or sandbox and let him have his fits where we can't hear him. Yesterday's NYT front page was such a blessing: no lead with his name in it. Can't we make that a regular Monday feature?
With Mueller Investigations, Trump tries ONCE AGAIN to get a resignation from Sessions! Tell us: Is this the meaning of "Witch Hunt"?
2
Its about time someone in the Trump administration has the temerity to put the constitution and the country ahead of their odious boss.
1
Mr. Sessions is a sycophant suffering the ill-effects of serving a sociopath/narcissist called Trump. If Session had dignity or an inch of self-respect he would resign. He won't. With Sessions, "flunky" takes on a whole new meaning.
What kills me about this (and every other news item I read about 45) is that he's strated his re-election campaign for 2020 already, and those Republicans he abuses will make sure he wins.
Trump is simply shedding light on how ridiculous Washington is. Get rid of all these departments. FISA is a political tool and should be abolished. Just like elected judges in your home town. It has always been, "Who you know?"
Trump never learns.
He's embarrassing us.
How dare Trump make side with Sessions.
Sessions is such an easy target for Trump's childish tantrums. He already knows Sessions will bite his lip and not fight back. The title of Attorney General is more dear to him than his honor, and it seems, more dear than his country. Trump has repeatedly attacked the Justice department, in the form of our Blushing Southern Pixie, because he still can't grasp that Justice employees are our country's lawyers, not his personal vendetta police. If Trump has his way, Justice would be out there paying off sleazy porn girls and jailing youthful anti-gun protesters for violating curfew. Wrong movie, Donald, and you are an incredibly bad actor.
2 days ago Sessions tweeted that the Obama administration was 'the most corrupt in history.'
Makes it hard to feel sorry for him......
3
Why is everyone surprised? Trump was recently selected by presidential scholars as the worst president in the history of our country. This is kind of what you do when you're the worst ever at your job.
1
Maybe J.B. Sessions has something on Trump, and that "something" is big enough that #45 is afraid to fire him outright. And Sessions is stubborn enough and has enough pride to stick it out. There are plenty of Sessions' policy pronouncements that I hate, but he doesn't seem to be cut from the same grubby fabric as most of the other passengers in the Trump clown car. When Trump starts referring to him as "Little Jeff," we'll know it's his time to go.
This Trump presidency is a disaster. The dotard doesn't learn about separation of branches of government. Thinks only in mob terms, of loyalty and allegiances. He ruining this country.
2
Sessions politics are wrong on every front, from marijuana to immigration. I do not think this guy will be missed.
1
We need a Joseph Welch—the guy who called out Joe McCarthy. We have a bunch of them at the NYT and other media (not Fox, of course), but we don’t seem to have one where it really counts—in the Republican Congress.
1
here is the president who did all illegal jobs throughout his life including defrauding federal treasury. he cannot tolerate fair and free justice. he wants everything his way or no way. he expects everybody to treat him as the king of the empire. Mr. Sessions and other GOP leaders you all enabled Mr. Trump to treat you like dirt and turn will come for each one of you.
1
No, Mr. trump, the I.G. is a US government guy, not an Obama guy. Have you forgotten your campaign promise to eliminate the dysfunctional hyperpartisanship of Washington? Or was that just another trump lie?
2
Gee, it’s about time someone came up with an anti-bullying campaign for Twitter.
3
IF Sessions upholds the Constitution, it will be the only instrument of the Executive Branch to do so.
I don’t care for Sessions, but I think sessions and Rosenstein are just about the only leaders in their areas under this administration that show any integrity at all.
DISGUSTING.
1
Everybody is scared of the big bad wolf.
No, that's not it.
Every creepster is getting what they want while we wonder, "how did this happen?".
Now that's an artful dodge, and you are their mark.
They turned out the lights and picked our pockets. Who let them in the door?
TRUMPY VOTERS!
Republicans may be able to get away with lying to their base when the FISA warrant's classification protects them from revealing actual facts. Internal investigations are another matter and Trump knows it. This is all narcissistic, delusional thinking on his part as he continues to cling to the false notion that his denials and a bevy lawyers can make his nightmare go away. The DOJ can't be stopped or silenced by a Godfather style massacre of the heads of the five families.
We know Trump is a disgrace. However, I have no sympathy for Sessions, who has yet to demonstrate any "integrity" or "honor." I have no doubt Sessions is fine with the amount of authority he's being given to advance his radical right-wing agenda. Personal and professional humiliation must seem like a small price to pay.
If you're going to quote him, quote him verbatim, case and all: "DISGRACEFUL!"
He's unwell and he's deteriorating. Stop covering for him. The nation's health depends on it.
1
How long do we have to suffer through a president who does not understand the constitutional limits of his office. The Justice Department is not one of this president’s business ventures. The Justice department belongs to the people of the United States of America. The president was not elected as our dictator. Good for Jeff Sessions for showing integrity in this matter.
More and more Trump demonstrates that he believes he is the American fuhrer. Our democracy is hanging by a thread. Up to now the congressional Republicans have been willing to do his bidding. The only way that Trump will be stopped is by a resounding thumping in the elections. The House looks like it will go Democratic so the chances for a successful impeachment will improve if the voters can resoundingly demonstrate to Senate Republicans that the electorate will not tolerate Trump's repeated assaults on our institutions.
1
Today's morning tweet was aimed at Jeff Sessions who still stubbornly refuses to understand exactly who it is he works for. As we have repeatedly been reminded, this is simply 'Disgraceful'. What else is new?
Along with 'shameless', Donald Trump loves the word 'disgraceful'. To keep everything in perspective, perhaps "Disgraceful" should precede Trump's name - like "Crooked" Hillary, "The Failing" New York Times, "Little" Bob Corker, "Little Marco Rubio" etc., etc.
"Disgraceful" Donald Trump. Or for more formal usage, President Disgraceful Trump. It has a nice ring. Disgraceful Donald Trump, making America sadder and sadder again and again.
2
The stuff in Trump's tweet is not within his scope of knowledge, of which he has none. It's obviously right from Fox News. Who is paying Trump's cable bill?
Congressional Republicans and Trump supporters isn’t it finally aperient to you that your guy is unqualified to be President of a democracy. His actions are more that of an authoritarian.
Presidents do not criticize the DOJ - unless they are a criminal. There is simply no other reason.
Will we ever be rid of this buffoon in the White House? He lacks a basic understanding of how the government functions and has zero appreciation for the need for the Justice Department and other law enforcement agencies to act according to procedures that have been developed over decades to insure even and appropriate administration of the criminal law statutes. Perhaps, once he has been brought to the bar to answer for his crimes, he will finally gain an understanding and appreciation for how criminals are treated fairly by these procedures he so disdains!
Thrashing in all directions, and going down, emperor trump.
This ain't a New York city council.
1
Sessions played this one really well. He took himself and his underlings out of the mix and handed the investigation to the appropriate person. Let's hope that Mr. Horowitz has a thick skin.
This is the very definition of a witch hunt. Trump's witch hunts are legendary.
Russian investigation is an investigation of really bad guys in Russia perverting and influencing the US election. Trump made it about himself, of course.
Trump is usually the fake conspiracy mass hysteria promoter of WHs.
"Lock Her Up" and the birther nonsense are classic Trump Witch Hunts. Right up there at the top with the Salem Witch Trials.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials
1
Geez, talk about shining he spotlight on oneself. Keep doing it, Mr Prez!
Where are Sessions' friends in the Senate? Or has Mitch and Paul and the boys (which they all are) decided to throw him under the bus so they can implement their agendae?
1
I have no sympathy for Sessions. As the saying goes, "...lie down with dogs, get up with fleas."
1
This trashing of American political culture, of the rule of law, and the separation of powers is now beyond a joke.
And the trashing is not coming from the streets, it is coming from the White House.
Isn't ANYBODY going to do anything?
Again people... this is just another DISTRACTION from Trump. EVERY SINGLE DAY there is another inane statement from Trump. Please do not give this man this energy. Focus instead on how we can unite to get him removed from office.
1
Sounds like Trump is again angling to "justify" getting rid of Sessions in order to bring new A.G. (ie. lackey) who'll fire Mueller. So brazen!
1
There is no question that Trump's behavior, especially the ongoing attacks on anyone he considers insufficiently loyal, is hideous and cruel as only adolescent boys can be cruel. However, it alarms me that Trump's repeated assaults on Jeff Sessions have apparently erased all public memory of exactly who this man Sessions is. From early in his career in my great home state of Alabama, Jeff Sessions has been infamous as a virulent racist and anti-Semite. These were qualifications that recommended him to Trump and, if you recall, there was much discussion of this at his confirmation hearings. Not because he is inefficient, and certainly not because he has suddenly been branded by Trump as disloyal, but because of his terrible history as an unapologetic, in fact a proud, bigot, advocating in favor of every law or regulation that could possibly work against the African-Americans in his state, Jeffrey Sessions is completely unqualified to hold the office he holds. As is the man who appointed him and now sits in the White House. They are all a disgrace.
1
This so called president, has no idea of what a democracy is or the meaning of the Constitution!
Once again, Trump rails against the essential checks and balances of Our democracy as antithetical to the junta he leads. “Our guys” should be rubbing out “Obama’s guys” and not letting the law get in the way. He pocket-vetoes the 98-2 vote to sanction Russia, acts unilaterally on North Korea, says nothing when “his guys” refuse to answer Mueller questions, but screams bloody murder when his perceived enemies aren’t everybody else’s top priority. Even Trump’s most outwardly devote henchmen, save for one or two, roll their eyes gobsmacked.
Donald is such a kick. We're going to have severe withdrawal symptoms when he's gone. And just imagine all the conservative columnists returning to the fold.
Donald is like a party every day. Every single day.
Jeff Sessions' apparently genuine respect for the law is stiffening his spine against Trump's outrages. This administration is simply loaded with surprises!
They voted for reality TV, we got reality TV.
Yet another disgraceful episode all around. I find it difficult to sympathize with Mr. Sessions however, since he has been a primary enabler of the disaster-in-chief since the beginning, which makes him either complicit or incompetent.
More evidence that Trump is the enemy of the rule of law, the enemy of Constitutional democracy, and the enemy of the American people. He has repetitively violated his oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, and has no business holding any public office. He is the greatest disgrace in the history of this Republic.
1
I wouldn’t have dreamed one year ago that I would be cheering on Jeff Sessions. So far he is one of the few Washingtonians outside of Democrats who stands up to this infantile, thwarted preteen egomaniac and responds as a professional adult should.
This is classic Trump when seeking personal advantage, his standard combination of ignorance and contempt of the law. Any other federal official would be disqualified from holding office. But the corrupt Republican congress proudly marches behind him to destroy America.
As President Trump tramples our constitution and separation of powers in our government, look to Paul Ryan and other Republican "Leadership" to call for a moment of silence, bow their heads and pray. You know, just the same way they deal with Gun violence in this country
Quoting Kyle Whitmire in AL.com back in June 2017: "Loyalty is the gamble we make in the hope, by sticking with them now, that sacrifice might give them the opportunity to redeem themselves. It's the trade we make for greatness to be named later.
"But give your boss a good look. Is there much greatness to come later? Is redemption really in his cards? Do you think he's going to change?"
Um, nope.
I miss Nixon.
2
It's the President who is acting totally disgracefully, as always. This latest of his shameful attacks on our government, and the dedicated career civil servants who staff the government and make it work, are just more grist for the impeachment mill, once it gets going.
And if the President doesn't soon stop acting so thoroughly guilty, with something to hide, eventually people are going to start thinking that he MUST be guilty of something.
8
Trump is flouting the very idea of the rule of law because, as is being revealed, he flouted the law. He'll burn the Constitution to save himself. What's concerning is that millions of Americans will support him in this criminal betrayal of his oath.
9
I have purposely avoided reality TV for years. Now, the president and the Republicans are totally reality TV. It's so sad to see what they have done to the dignity of our government. A plague on both their houses!
5
I can't believe it. I am starting to feel sorry for Sessions, a man i dislike completely. Wow. The power of Trump. Save me!!!
264
I never thought I would see something to admire in Sessions, but now I do. He does have some sense of rule of law.
2
Sessions is like the "worm" characters in the two big sprawling fantasy novel series: Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. Think of Grima Wormtongue and Peter Pettigrew, aka Wormtail. Both were toadies to the most evil of men. In the end, badly degraded Grima Wormtongue slits Saruman's throat.
Trump might wonder what Sessions could do, or reveal, about Trump ... if pushed to it.
2
It's Trump's gift. He makes everyone else in the world look good by comparison .
5
Jeff Sessions could have stayed in the senate until he died of old age. I wonder if it occurs to Trump that insulting an icon of Alabama, a red state that just elected a democrat to the senate, might be a bad idea.
169
That would require rational thought by Trump, something he’s already proven he doesn’t have the capacity for. Nor can he think that far down the road.
I'm becoming more and more convinced that Trump is incapable of *conceiving* of the idea of "seeking to be objective and fair, under the law." It's not that he simply chooses to live otherwise, believing that people who seek to be objective and fair are naive or foolish. Rather, it's that he is unable to comprehend the *concept* of it, just like a gerbil or a house fly can't. This would explain why he is so confused/surprised when people like Sessions exhibit a shred of integrity.
3
Trump really does want to push Sessions over the edge so he can get a highly qualified and loyal person to replace him. Maybe the Assistant Greenskeeper from his golf course. That would work.
6
Maybe Sessions is getting sick of trump, like the rest of us. Is the enemy of my enemy a friend? We shall see.
1
What paranoia! This Trump-man is unfit to hold office! What shall we do? What SHALL we do? He surely cannot believe that everyone from a previous administration is "against" him! Has he no concept of the independence of law?
Well, no. He can't think of government in any other way than "us versus them." That's a tax-evasion, money-laundering, bankruptcy-escape attitude. That's an attitude that wants to own government officials. That's the attitude of a king or emperor, or dictator. Oh save us!
3
Another day, another personally signed and broadcast message demonstrating Trump's complete incompetence to perform the job of President and further evidence of a deep seated and dangerous psychiatric malady that makes the 25th amendment look more realistic all the time.
7
With every passing day the 2018 midterms loom as a critical moment the like of which we haven't seen since Watergate.
3
Andrew Johnson had 11 articles of impeachment against him. The House passed 2 out of 4 against Clinton. The Judiciary committee passed 3 out of 5 against Nixon before he resigned.
Should the Democrats win the House in 2018, one can only imagine what Vegas will set the over / under at for the number of articles of impeachment against Trump. Records will fall that may never be broken.
#winning
2
That tweet, in and of itself, would be sufficient to get any Democratic president impeached for obstruction of justice.
385
How is this obstruction of justice? He's asking for a more aggressive investigation.
As it should for Trump, in combination with all his other pronouncements, if we had a Congressiobal majority not comprised of snakes, traitors, and cowards.
DW
No, he's asking for an investigation he can control.
Let me help you with the reason for Trumps outburst - the ship is sinking, and President Tiny Hands is losing his grip on the transom.
4
Trump is trying to force Jeff Sessions to resign. I for one hope that Sessions does not. Let Trump do the dirty work and fire him. It's pretty clear that Trump wants him out so that he can appoint a "loyal" AG. An AG who will in turn fire Rosenstein, thus upending the Mueller investigation. Let Trump take this on himself. His intentions would then be obvious for all to see. I suspect he doesn't have the guts to do it.
4
Republicans, do you really want to be identified with this White House occupant? He questioned the integrity of the IG because the IG was appointed by Obama. Why all this hatred?
Why can't Democrats and Republicans work together?
Why can't we agree that Dreamers need to become citizens?
Why can't we agree the providing health insurance to all citizens is a good thing?
Why can't we agree that polluting the environment is bad?
...
Please stand up and put your country first.
3
"It was not immediately clear what prompted the president’s outrage over Mr. Sessions."
Anything prompts this clown's outrage. Congress must do its job and check this fool, before he gets us to a point from which there may be no return.
2
If I was an American, I would be exhausted by now. Every day there’s something new with this guy.
8
Trump is hoping Sessions quits so he can appoint even more of a loyal hack to oversee Rosenstein. Maybe Jared Kushner will be the new AG. Anything is possible but you can count on the GOP Congress to tow the line.
Tick tock, tick tock, Meuller is closing in and Nixon Jr. Is losing it!
5
Ha ha, he made us look! This is all about deflecting...
Trump has a new slogan for 2018. MABRA - Make America a Banana Republic Again.
3
Mr. Mueller is at the White House door now.
2
As Jared is involved with everything
else that he has no experience with,
why not appoint him A.G.?
No doubt, Trump would give this some
thought. The majority...“why not?”
“Jared is one righteous Dude.”
2
Since he's been president, Trump has done a terrific job stirring up all the racists and anti-Semites. Based upon many of his comments during the past thirteen months, a logical person must conclude that he's part of the same bunch. Today was a real surprise. Who knew that Jeff Sessions was African-American and Jewish?
3
In the "Gay" world Sessions would be labelled a total bottom. He is willing to be humiliated, degraded and yet he accepts it. You think he may be "
2
Poor Jeff. He took the job of AG so he could ramp up a new war on marijuana and mass incarceration of people of color; deport 10 or 15 million brown people, and defend voter suppression tactics nationwide.
Then he blithely recuses himself from a Russian influence investigation he was too close to, and Trump Tower falls in on him. He had no idea how deeply the president, his sons, son-in-law and closest friends were involved in traitorous acts, or he surely would have protected the Don and his family.
Someone should have told Mr. Sessions he was woking for an organized crime syndicate.
4
One minor satisfaction of this "administration" is the entertainment of watching these racists, kleptocrats and degenerates publicly fight with each other. The Republican version of "The West Wing" truly is "The Snake Pit," populated by spineless, soulless, slithering reptiles with nothing to offer the world but bile and venom.
6
Trump seems to use the word "disgrace" in almost every idiotic tweet. We know he has a very limited vocabulary, another of his key words being "sad." Just pathetic (oops, that may also be one of his words).
1
Typical of this fool of a president, he's not smart enough to understand that people that work for the government, work for the government and not him.
They serve the president but they are suppose to be loyal to people of this country and it's constitution.
But it's not going to matter because Trump will fire Sessions and look for another lap dog to fill his spot.
1
Calling Sessions “disgraceful”?
Is this a case of the pot calling
the kettle black??
I truly hope that I live long enough
to read how the history books
explain how Trumpism ruined America!
2
JS is SHAMELESS. Why not quit the job?
KAKISTOCRACY
3
Whatever happened to the management guiding principle of: Praise in public, criticize in private? Oh, that's right, this president has had not real management training or experience, just a degree in Blowhard!
2
Desperation. The stench is obvious...
3
Haven't we seen this farce before? Trump acts like some tinpot dictator and the object(s) of his scorn pretend to act like responsible, adult officials to make it seem as if Trump will be restrained at some point. Of course they are all on the same page and working toward the same goal--getting Trump off the hook, excoriating the Democrats and (somehow) blaming Hilary Clinton for the whole mess. Vote them out of office and we may--may!-get some semblance of serious government returned to us. If we don't it's going to be a very long slog through the mud.
3
Trump can dish it out but can't take it. He is surrounded by toadies who take his bullying insults. If Sessions spoke his language, Trump would fold like a deck chair.
1
Perhaps Trump wont fire Sessions because Mueller might flip ole Jeff
Sure acts guilty....
1
"Disgraceful" is a word I believe a majority of Americans think of when images of Trump come to mind, so it's ironic to hear him using it when talking about his Attorney General. He has repeatedly soiled our nation with his vulgar and disgusting behavior from mocking the disabled, equivocating neo-Nazis with those who stand against them, and repeatedly attacking Gold Star families, law enforcement, and our Department Of Justice.
Just when I thought he couldn't sink any lower, he uses the deaths of the brave teachers and students in Parkland to brag about how he would have gone in 'without a weapon' to face the hail of bullets from that devastating AR-15. While comedians have rightly used these transparent lies as a punchline, I find it horribly "disgraceful" for him to use this carnage and horror as a prop in his never-ending assault on decency.
3
Seems like unconditional loyalty to the baby orange is imploding. Get a clue, and get out while you can.
What's wrong Donald? Don't have the courage to just fire the AG? So you go for public humiliation which, at least this time, has backfired.
In what upside-down world is Jeff Sessions a good guy for a day? Jeesh.
2
Speaking of disgraceful Donald, you can always fire him.
Trump is not a president. He is a king. He holds court with the scary looking queen and their very badly behaved prince Jared and princess Ivanka. The repub court jesters entertain him and the dem naïves stand by silently. All I have to say is "Off with their heads!"
Mueller is interested in financials and whether T knew about the stolen emails before the public. He's getting more and more twitchy. He's back to those same inclinations he had that prompted him to fire Comey. This abomination of a human being (and President) is a traitor. Hate to borrow from his lunatic fringe followers, but please, lock him up.
2
Trump is the freezing snake Sessions rescued from near-certain death by bringing him the warmth of the Republican establishment. Once again proving that no good deed goes unpunished. In Session's case imminently fatally, it appears.
I wish I had sympathy for Jeff Sessions. But I don't. This man [sic] sold his soul for 30 pieces of useless Bitcoins to head a department whose meaning he knows nothing about- in an Administration who knows even less; never had any integrity for doing the right thing (In Alabama or now). Just another power-craving member of the WMC- cloaked in a dull veneer of religiosity.
Let him feel the burn of The Tweet.
1
Just another example of Trump abusing his power because he wants Sessions on his "team." Trump wants to micro-manage the department of justice just to save his own hide. And he doesn't have the mental capacity to comprehend how desperate this latest tweet will be perceived.
2
Trump: "I am the government. The government is against me."
3
Sessions doesn't share Trump's obsession with distraction and deflection.
Mr Session’s stances on the issues have never resonated with me. However, he seems to be the only person of integrity in the Trump administration. The only one who fulfills his pledge to “protect and defend the Constitution”. Were he to resign in the face of unspeakable humiliation and attack, our Constitution and democracy would face its greatest challenge since the Civil War. I cannot conscience who might be appointed in Session’s place. Me Sessions, please persist! We cannot afford another lackey of Trump injustice.
I hope Trump keeps up his inappropriate attacks, because sooner or later Sessions will have no choice but to bite back.
1
i am completely amazed at how sessions and others in this administration and congress take/swallow the garbage which comes out of the oval office.
doesn't seem to be a self-respecting person in the group.
sad.
1
Sessions will let Trump's comments roll off his back.
He knows he'll still be around when Trump is in jail.
2
Someone needs to tell Trump that there is a separation of power from the DOJ and the White House to assure fairness and no meddling from the president. Trump continues to obstruct justice at every turn in the road. Perhaps he ought to team up with Putin and move to some country under Russian control that he can then have the control he wants. Hopefully, soon Muellers investigation will be focusing on Trump.
Sessions got more than expected. Sessions wanted it, he got it. The wrath from the incompetent.
Does Mr. Sessions also now believe that the Trump accusations are bogus and dishonest? The Democratic, i.e., accurate and factual, version of the memo made that quite clear.
At the very least, Sessions is doing things by the book. Mr. Trump, who continues to make himself look ever weaker and more desperate, really does want that Russia thing to go away!
Any sane and reasonable American will also by now have concluded that the Trump tweets are bogus, dishonest, and self-serving.
Trump's supporters in their heart of hearts must by now be thinking the same--when they aren't obsessively inflicting gratuitously pain on Trump critics of all political persuasions.
The right thing to do, of course, is to give the DOJ a proper degree of independence, as all previous presidents have done.
1
Trump has abused Sessions in the hope that he will resign. He also wants Mr. Rosenstein to resign. This would free Trump to replace both men with two of his henchmen, and stop the Russian investigation ASAP.
His frenzy to stop this investigation is clear, and Trump, has to get rid of these two men to accomplish this. My thanks to Mr. Sessions and Mr. Rosenstein for their integrity, it's in such short supply in Washington.
"Isn't the I.G. an Obama guy?" The President demonstrates, once again, that he has no concept of the rule of law. To him, it's all about personal loyalty. It is our good fortune that Jeff Sessions, as well as the I.G., are following standard constitutional, professional and law-abiding protocol. As for the calls for Sessions to resign in protest over the President's continued attempts to humiliate him, please no! Sessions is showing admirable strength, and the the President is embarrassing himself, not Sessions.
1
Disgraceful. Perfect word to encapsulate this whole mess.
Someday, when this is all behind us, assuming our country is still intact, it may be time to consider modifying the constitution. The founders of this country never imagined the likes of a Donald Trump in power. And yet here we are, each day more unimaginable than the last.
4
Trump thinks the executive branch of the government is like his own private company. He has no experience running anything else. If he had experience running a public company or even a regular golf club where infighting and politics amongst the Board and major shareholders/members was the norm he would not be so surprised by the independence and lack of "loyalty" in his subordinates. He is out of his depth in an unfamiliar power structure and unwilling to learn new tricks. He has got a tremendous amount of power so he can continue to act as if it were a private company without many repercussions. So he gets angry but has no real incentive to learn.
It's all about Jared. You can tell, it's timed to arouse outrage in an innocent direction.
The Republic has really bottomed out when someone like Sessions is made to look good.
Only someone as "DISGRACEFUL" (to use the twitter's self-descriptor) as Trump could have achieved this.
The sooner Trump looks out on a guard's tower, not Trump Tower, the safer and saner we'll all be.
4
Call me cynical, but I think the only reason Sessions is obeying the law is because he doesn't want to go to jail. Coward!
2
As to whether Donald Trump would obstruct justice, this an other incidents make clear that he would. Special Counsel Mueller's actions that we know seems increasly likely to prove that he did.
If Mr. Mueller does, the President's reaction will be informative. That of the GOP leadership in Congress even more so.
Sessions was an early Trump supporter. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. I have no sympathy for high profile Trump enablers. While Sessions now appears to be trying to do the right thing, I don't care. It is far too little, far too late.
3
Looks like "Donald the Bombastic" strikes again. Look Bub, you yanked Sessions out of a safe Senate seat to have him head the Department of Justice. Then you back his appointed replacement, "Big" Luther Strange in the Republican Special Election Primary. Strange gets knocked off by a bible thumping crackpot named Roy Moore who used to hang out at shopping centers trying to pick up underage girls. He loses the seat!
When Sessions does the right thing by recusing himself from the work and oversight of the Special Counsel, you blow a "head gasket". Now Sessions has his "Alabama" up and no "damned" Yankee is going to force him to quit. Congratulations, Donald. A fiction writer couldn't have come up with this scenario. How's that FAA head idea going? Do you have a clue about anything outside of money and an "enhanced" younger woman?
1
Disgraceful is ... the so-called POTUS
2
What's disgraceful is having this ignoramus in the white house who doesn't understand the law.
3
“When you dance with the devil, you don't get to pick the tune.”
Sherrilyn Kenyon, Infinity
Republicans, particularly Jeff Sessions, are beginning to learn the truth of that statement. Most Republicans despised Trump as an ignorant boorish interloper, then they embraced him as their dear leader. Why? Because the rabid knuckle draggers they have spent decades cultivating on hatred and fear loved his racism, misogyny, Islamophobia, denigration of facts and nativism.
He is not a stain on the Republican Party and this country, he is a tattoo. One that sadly will be indelibly etched on our history forever.
1
What a coward. As my Dad would say, the yellow streak of cowardice is a yard wide down Trump's back. Using social media to "govern." Inept fool. Yeah, he's really run into that school, weapon or not...cannot even face his own appointee....
1
Daily we get new reports about the rotting body of america - how it stinks, the maggots and vultures that pick at it, the drip and bloat of its carcass.
calfreeco.org. - it's time to bury the body.
1
DDT. Donald Disgraceful Trump
1
As much as I don't like Sessions, it is YOU, Mr. Trump that is disgraceful. You are an embarrassment to the Office of the President. You could not be more incompetent, now any less, be any less informed, or even have an iota of knowledge of what being President of the USA is all about. The word clueless fits you like a tight glove. Why is this President still President when we can just pick anybody on the street randomly and he/she would be much more qualified than this abomination. We are suppose to elect bright people to be President, not nitwits.
1
People who consider themselves 'conservatives' need to take a cold hard look at themselves in the mirror. Listen again to the speeches given by Donald Trump, Wayne LaPierre, and Marion Le Pen at CPAC. Do you really buy the premise that people who saw the gun massacre in FL and want something done to limit access to guns as enemies of the state? Do you agree with Trump that immigrants are like poisonous snakes just waiting for your helping hand so they can bite you? Is this really how you define 'conservatism'. If so, history is going to judge you the way it does those who supported the rise of Adolf Hitler, but with one major difference: Hitler emerged from an incredibly difficult period in Germany's history; no such excuse can be claimed by the conservatives who support Trump and his kind.
2
Dumb and Dumber. America at a low point, continuing it's metoric way down.
3
Quick. grab a straightjacket.
The man-child is throwing another tantrum
4
What is disgraceful? Trump. Move along. Nothing to see here save a sociopath slowly destroying himself.
2
Trumpy all mad at the Keebler Elf? Just FIRE HIM!! That will make you look tough! Come on, Donny! Just fire him! You can do it!! Unless you're CHICKEN!! @DonaldJTrump
Buzz off Liar...
What will it take to get rid of this nuisance?
2
Apart from all the questions of legality and appropriateness mentioned here, or even the increasingly obvious desperation of this massive, babyish fraud of a man— I’m struck by his sheer cruelty. Why does he continue to humiliate Sessions? Because he can. Because it makes him feel good. Because he thinks it looks tough. And because Sessions lets him.
I think psychiatrists call this “narcissistic supply”. It’s oxygen for twisted psyches, but hell for everyone else.
1
I am surprised Trump hasn't called upon SNL to do a skit on Sessions. Can't believe anyone would accept the insults from a boss like Sessions seems to be accepting. Sessions must be an extremely small man.
Wouldn't this pressuring and public tantrum actually raise a defense for anyone who might be indicted? How can anyone get a fair trial if the president is alleging "massive FISA abuse"?
Maybe Trump can have the Kremlin do his investigations.
I is not hard to see what trumps is to drive out so someone else will come in and stop the Russian Investigations his first 10 minutes.
I would clean house; fire the man. Lying to and misleading the FISA court (or any court) for the purpose of generating a warrant is a crime and those responsible should be punished to the greatest extent of the law. This is government dangerously out of control. I'm guessing since Liberals love their big government and believe in their heart of hearts it can do no wrong - that they truly look out for the people - they don't see it. Perhaps when it's there turn to be subject to the "Deep State" they'll get the idea.
There of course was no lying to obtain the warrant used to listen in on Carter Page, who was and is a known Russian asset. The government presented that some of the evidence was politically gained and that didn’t disqualify it since it was disclosed. Three different Republican appointed judges approved the original warrant and subsequent extensions. Extensions would only be approved because of new evidence each time. This is justice, not proof of a “Deep State”, whatever that is.
Moe always used to conk Curly on the head and poke Joe in the eye, but they always stuck together and only got funnier to watch. This shtick is great!
1
At want point do these continued public attacks on various government institutions and individual government officials by a sitting president become un-American and illegal?
3
Ole Jeff Sessions may be a stooge of Trump, but even stooges deserve to be treated with a measure of respect if they are appointed to important cabinet positions. Cadet Bone Spurs better watch out if the DOJ decides to look closer at the Trump family’s business dealings.
DJT still seems to think that government somehow runs the same way his business runs.
1
I hope that eventually it will be Sessions that files criminal charges against Trump. He has it coming. The writing's on the wall.
1
Trump is tweeting himself into irrelevance. This has been happening since the inauguration. Even his Attorney General and other cabinet members are side-stepping his harmless bullets. Leaders around the world are recognizing his lunacy and acting accordingly. The Senate is negotiating an immigration plan largely ignoring Trump's wishes.
Trump's ego won't take much more of this. If he is ignored, he will either lash out with a drastic action (fire Mueller? fire Sessions?) which will trigger impeachment, or he'll leave of his own accord. I don't see him biding his time.
1
'Looks like the impending mutiny is about to gain some real traction.
3
Trump is renewing efforts to replace Sessions with someone to limit Mueller's scope, steer him away from his finances.
FOLLOW THE MONEY...all the way back to Russia.
3
Trump has been told by congressional members he could not survive firing Sessions, as that would start a Saturday Night Massacre down to and including Mueller and bring about his removal from the presidency.
But he dearly wants to shame Sessions into resigning because he wants a hand puppet (Fellow Traveler Nunes?) overseeing Mueller's investigation. That way he could orchestrate the dismissals of Mueller and Rosenstein without directly firing them.
Trump is really feeling it these days, which is a good indication that he knows he hasn't much time before Mueller finds out all he needs to know to bring Trump down.
There has been so much riding on Mueller, just as there is so much riding on November's congressional elections. Ten years from now there will have been a thousand books written on Trump's first two years in office - and every one of them will feature extensive passages on Mueller's final report and the results of 2018's midterm elections.
1
We will be seeing more and more people in the Administration trying to put some distance between themselves and Trump. The handwriting is on the wall, and they don't want to go down with a sinking ship.
1
We seem to live in a nation lead by Joseph Stalin or a third-world dictator, who uses the law enforcement apparatus as a means of suppressing dissent and persecuting his political rivals. Our republican democracy is in grave peril if President Trump has his way. I dislike Jeff Sessions’ policies but he is a hero for defending our justice system from despotism.
Is Jeff confident that he will keep his job? May such confidence translate to revenge on a dictatorial Trump? Does Jeff have the fortitude to rebel? Or will he, like so many republicans, 'just follow orders'?
Let us replace Sessions with Jared. He shares Trump's values more than anyone else.
1
It appears that Sessions has become like much of the rest of the country and has learned to ignore the President's inappropriate tweets.
I never thought I'd say this, but if the way to make sure the Mueller investigation continues unimpeded is for Sessions to continue in his position and disregard Trump's obvious attempts at forcing a resignation, then I say welcome Mr. Sessions.
Sorry Trumpet there is a process - and something called due process. You seem to desperately call for it (and then some) when you are the target, but get angry if it is allowed for others - SAD.
There is something called a professional who care more about his/her professionalism and professional status than any tribal partisan label they can be plastered with. Some call such a willingness to drop all partisan tribalism to seek what is good and right for the country; presidential - well what would you know.
1
At first Trump was entertaining. Finally, I have grown tired of this man.Let's cancel this season once and for all.
3
It's not the "Trump Justice Department", it's the "Justice Department" meaning, what is fair and equitable for the entire country not just a tin-pot, dictator. As always, with 45, I'm left to wonder is he a moron, or is he continuing his march toward America as a banana republic?
3
what can one say about this quote from the story ?
"Republicans have accused Justice Department and F.B.I. officials of abusing their powers by surveilling a former Trump campaign aide, Carter Page, in the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election"
shorter: NY Times thinks opinions on shape of earth deserve respectful hearing
Longer: This is why I don't subscribe; this is allowing GOP lies to pass as reasonable assertions
There is a war between normality and sanity and the GOP; here, the Times thinks it can be neutral
well NY Times, you can't be neutral: you are with us or you are against us
3
Yet another reason why Trump will go down as the worst American president in history. His continuous attacks on the Justice department, the FBI, the courts, and all manner of law enforcement, make it clear that he regards himself as a dictator who is above the law.
Trump has no respect for the Constitution, democracy, or rule of law. And the people who support him are demonstrating either their ignorance, their fascist tendencies, or their amorality.
2
or their lack of a spine. Many wouldn't put up with this if it came from a different POTUS. Silences is a way to pander to the base that helps win the primary. In a way they are worse than Trump because they aren't ignorant. Just as cowardly as the deputy that wouldn't go into the school.
Mr Trump is a pit-bull who only knows to attack, attack, attack until he gets what he wants. Existing laws or norms of decency are mere inconveniences in these quests of his.
1
Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. If Session has the DOJ attorneys investigate themselves, and find no wrong-doing, Trump will call it a cover-up. If the independent inspector general investigates, and finds no wrong-doing, Trump will call it disgraceful. Trump is like the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland--first the execution, then the trial!
All of it, every last tweet, is designed to distract attention from the investigation of Trump. It may or may not demonstrate collusion with the Russians rising to the level of conspiracy, but it will demonstrate obstruction of justice on the part of high level Trump advisors if not Trump himself. It will demonstrate the rotten core of the Trump Organization as an accomplice to Russian money laundering.
And every day that goes by that the Republican majority in Congress abets this criminal is a dark day in the USA.
34
Trump still does not understand that government officials work for the country, not HIM personally. Even Hope Hicks told the House Committee that she works for Trump. She does not: she works for the U. S. She needs to check her paycheck and see if Trump's name is on it.
57
There is an old Navy adage that is a basic rule for all managers:
Praise in public, punish in private.
Trump is no manager. He has learned nothing from his hero's "the generals".
26
First rule of good management - criticize in private, praise in public.
17
Donald Trump does get the Gold Medal for Surprise. Each day he surprises us with a lower level of character than the day before, and only he seems to be able to plumb such depths.
11
It really sounds like the end is near. To have a repub talk about honor and integrity while going against trump is not what has been happening. Maybe the party of trump is finally willing to clean house.
11
That occurred to me too, especially with the Kushner mess.
I doubt anything much has changed. Sessions pretty much had to defend his department and Trump lashing out at his own team in public is not new. It will be rather amazing if Trump is not found guilty of obstruction of justice but as long as the GOP controls the houses he isn't going to be impeached or suffer any consequences. And his base doesn't care how venal he is because as Billy Graham Jr. put it he isn't a good Christian but he is a good defender of the evangelical Christian Right and that is all that matters.
I think I'm experiencing warm feelings of support for Jeff Sessions. Very disorienting.
32
Have considered coming out yet?
Our question is how Sessions can remain in his position despite being criticized many times by the man whom he serves at his pleasure. And, is it not astonishing that Trump treats the AG, whom he appointed, with such unprecedented disdain ?
5
“The attorney general, one of Mr. Trump’s earliest supporters in his election campaign”.
Sessions and Bannon were the instigators and primary designers of Trump’s ascension to Presidential candidate starting in 2013.
This renewed attack on Session’s by Trump shows the shallow regard the President has for his loyalty to benefactors even though he demands oaths of support from them.
4
Dear Mr. Sessions,
While most of the time I perceive you as a throwback to a previous century, I do applaud your stance on working "in a fair and impartial manner according to the law and Constitution" and I encourage you to continue to stand up to the president.
He is a know-nothing who doesn't want to ever know anything more. And that is surely worse than an educated 19th-century man who knows the law and the Constitution (even when I disagree with your interpretation).
7
At the next press opportunity, please ask president Trump if he meant that AG Sessions was not following established justice department guidelines in referring the matter to the Inspector General. Trump does not have a clue what the rules are and could care less. He just wants someone under political control to make the decision.
7
It must give one pause when someone in this wretched administration finally attempts to do their job and is kicked down about it. How we have come to this is really disturbing but if Sessions is trying to look independent then I salute him.
Trump will learn one way or the other that if though he admires despots he doesn't have the skills to truly be one. He is being put in his place by the courts and constitutional law.
Now, if only the GOP congress would do their job we might find a solution to Trump and his attempts to continue to hide what he is so afraid Mueller will expose.
In the end if we are rid of these sub par sycophants that Trump installs in in jobs for which they are not qualified and ultimately Trump, it will all be worth it to see government at work once again.
7
This isn't new or surprising. Trump has insulted and denigrated his own team and his fellow Republicans repeatedly. They all pretty much grimace and go on. But he has to be making some real enemies because his insults are often so degrading. If it looks like he won't be reelected, or whenever he is in his final lame duck days, I suspect the GOP knives may come out.
Mr. Trump seems to be under the impression that the federal government can be run as his own private business, where he can micromanage every aspect and control every policy.
4
And ultimately pull cash out of it just before it winds up in bankruptcy court.
It could not be clearer that what Trump wants is to direct the resources of the national government to attack his political rivals and to protect him. He has not the slightest understanding of or interest in the American system of government. He likes the Putin model better, which patriotic Americans of both parties have been fighting against for generations.
13
President Trump's lack of understanding of the law, Constitutional norms, separation of powers, and human decency constantly amazes me as he extends the boundaries of acceptable behavior ever further. It is so far beyond acceptable that Congressional Republicans continue to apparently accept his behavior. It continues to appear that the only solution to reigning his behavior in is to change the majority party in control of Congress.
9
Distraction, distraction, distraction.
DJT is worried about Bob Mueller and his investigation. DJT wants Sessions out so he can appoint someone like Nunes, who will not follow the rule of law and do whatever is needed to protect DJT.
8
Trump knows that there are tapes somewhere of him --many many tapes (as he'd say), secretly recorded --adversaries, intelligence services, friends.
The "best defense is a good offense" is Trump's play.
Won't work.
4
Atty General Sessions in his reply essentially stated that he is following the Constitution in opposition to what the President wants.
4
Republicans were swift to defend the inspector general. They need to reaffirm their support for the Attorney General. If Trump fires Sessions, we immediately will be plunged into constitutional crisis.
2
Sessions is kook but apparently he can be influenced by some principles. In this case, the principles of fair dealing of Department of Justice internal business predominate.
4
Trump is not yet our Xi, and needs to stand down. Let Sessions and Horowitz are do their jobs.
Trump needs to be corralled and subordinate himself to the of law of our government, and country. He does not comes first!
26
"In his tweet on Wednesday, Mr. Trump also slammed the department’s inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, for taking so long to conclude his investigation into the former F.B.I. director’s handling of the bureau’s inquiry of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state."....I wonder how using a private e-mail server compares with using a top White House aide that did not have a security clearance?
95
you mean Ben Rhodes who negotiated the Iran fiasco ??
Every week Mr Trump gives a better civics lesson in the workings of government and the Constitution than many American students get in 4 years of high school.
If he is not good for anything else, he is a good reminder of the Constitution's constraints on vested power. Thank you, Mr Trump.
293
And most especially, of from WHAT those constitutional constraints protect us.
3
Yes, THAT, at least, is reassuring.
The trouble is that he's learning disabled.
To his credit, a rare example of push-back against Trump.
Sessions may be ahead of the game here, believing that the President does not have long in the office.
72
"Keep on pushing me, baby
Don't you know you drive me crazy?
You just keep on pushing my love over the borderline"- Madrona
I have to say that over time I've developed a greater respect for Jeff Sessions. At every major turn in his dealings with Trump he acts in a fair and objective manner following established procedures rather than do Trump's bidding. Both his recusal and now forwarding to the Dept. of Justice IG this FISA issue demonstrates this. Since the FISA application records are classified it's clear Americans need an objective party to examine this dispute between republicans and democrats.
12
Sessions did not recuse out of any independence from Trump. He recused because if he did not do so, he was going to put himself in an even more precarious legal position.
I'm no fan of Jeff Sessions, but at least he has finally stood up to Trump.
The fact that he's finally done so may be a clue into where the Trump administration stands with regard to the Russia investigation. Maybe Sessions sees the writing on the wall.
70
Sessions seems to be avoiding complicity in the excesses of the Whitehouse at last,not what I expected from him when he first became AG. Perhaps this bodes a change in the saner people around Trump, where they return to the fold (of the normal and rational) and try to regain their credibility. Refusing to budge from his recusal from the Russia inquiry has been a good start, and upholding the authority of the FISA court is, too. Perhaps Sessions, too, is beginning to see the train wreck coming, late perhaps, but if he consistently affirms the value of the rule of law and the Constitution, and can say no to Trump, I can begin to respect him. I hope he sets an example for others, particularly in the Republican Party.
19
As once declared by the Court jester Stephen Miller, " the powers of the President to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned". This Presidency is a mockery of the rule of law and a stain on the moral, legal and ethical fabric of the nation (one just hopes not an indelible one).
48
The indelible stain to which you refer, I fear, resides in the hearts and souls of all those who voted for this man even after witnessing his performance during the election campaign. Also, a large indelible stain resides in the hearts and souls of all in the Democratic Party's establishment, from Debbie Wasserman Schultz on down. It will take cloud sourcing solutions to our governance problem. Established political machinery with roots in the 18th Century is just not up to the task. Massive, well organized public pressure with the threat of electoral defeat may move the dial, but I'm not convinced. Our government is broken. All the world sees this. Tax reform? Trillions of dollars of debt? Gross incompetence and/or cultivated obliviousness to the dire straights of people addicted by the medical establishment, nation-wide crisis of unaffordable housing, greater and increasing poverty than in any other first world nation, gross income and wealth inequality, the hoarding of vast amounts of disposable money by the nation's major corporations that choose to pay abysmally low wages that obviously prevent workers from reaching their God-given potential to say nothing of their children's and family's realistic hopes and dreams if only their earning were their to enable their realization. The nation's government - federal, state, and local - is badly broken. The culture has devolved such that in short order its unrecognizable.
The president has clearly missed his calling. He could have looked in the mirror and sang, “Me, Me, Me, Me!” before every performance at the Met.
Instead, he is the Overlord of a White House in disarray. He cannot staff key positions across the Executive branch. The screening process weeded out anyone who might have said anything negative about @real but overlooked character and qualifications. He criticizes almost everyone that works directly for him in a very public and unpresidential manner. The staff turnover rate for his first year in office is a staggering 34% and yet he has never made a mistake.
The Attorney General finds himself in a most unenviable position. When he was nominated for the position, half of the country considered him unqualified. Since he has become the president’s favorite @real target, I’d guess that the other half of the country is angry at him for not doing what the president wants.
As Saturday and Sunday are reserved for golf, we can only guess which Friday will be @real’s Saturday Night Massacre. But then he might possibly understand that it would be his downfall.
11
Don't look for Sessions to leave of his own accord, despite Trump's repeated fits and attacks. Sessions has an agenda that he has been working his whole career towards, including attacks on the constitution through expanded search and seizure, eroding federalism, attacks on immigrants, preserving an antiquated confederate philosophy at the highest levels of government, and establishing theocratically based government policy such as we are already seeing with trans-and gay-issues. In the end Sessions will do far more damage than the bumbling, incompetent POTUS because he actually knows how the government works.
54
It's almost tempting to lend one's public sympathies to the plight of Jeff Sessions. Since his recusal from RussiaGate investigations that followed his dubious testimony in front of the Senate Judicial Committee, Sessions has consistently, if sheepishly, deflected each of Trump's attempts to weaponize him in his war against Robert Mueller.
An arch-conservative good old boy steeped in the mirky waters of the South, Sessions' questionable track record on race lost him an appointment to the U.S. District Court and would have blocked him from becoming Attorney General had anyone other than Trump been president.
In the past year Sessions has been as busy as a bayou beaver rolling back the clock on immigration, judicial and civil rights advances in America. But news-wise, that all takes a back seat to his tug-of-war with the president. As the noose tightens around the White House, Trump can't believe his hand-picked AG can't or won't come to his rescue.
An ill wind Sessions might be, but it can't be said he blows no good. His refusal to do Trump's dirty work is undoubtedly more about self-preservation than doing the right thing. Small mercy but we'll take it.
37
Good post but no need for the insults toward those of us below the Mason-Dixon Line. I have to keep reminding you people that Trump rose from the “murky waters “ of the Hudson not the Mississippi. If only we could send him back through the bridge and tunnels toward home .
The more Sessions doesn't weaken due to Trump's bullying the more he strengthens the positive views Americans have of him.
10
Yup, he can always conveniently forget he lied at the confirmation hearings and in his conflict of interest filings. Won' take but not slobbering on his red carpet to restore his honor.
As minimal as those positive views might be. Dude is an artifact of a bygone era. But cling to your gun in the sanctuary. There won't be any gays in there, maybe.
President Trump believes that the Department of Justice exists for the sole purpose of validating, or at least, investigating his latest conspiracy theory. Part of this stems from his need to go after his political enemies and another part from his desire to put another shining object out there to distract his base from the Mueller investigation as it gets closer and closer to the White House and the Oval office.
13
It's may be interesting to speculate about the significance of a specific Trump tweet at a specific time. However the first thing to check is what was discussed on Fox News Channel in the previous 30 - 60 minutes.
12
Sessions is a Trump supporter. He was rewarded for that with his appointment to the position of attorney general, which he accepted. He knew what Trump was like. I have no sympathy for him. He made his bed, now he is lying in it. Plus the more Trump behaves like this, the less he will get done and the more he will hurt his party's results in the up-coming mid term elections.
21
It just blows my mind how members of Congress are attacking the Warrant Process based upon the Steele Dossier containing "unverified" information. Do you realize how many criminal investigations that use wiretapping could be said to use "unverified" information. Is it just me, or are they attacking our judicial system as a whole?
453
They DON'T know what they're doing while they play politics with institutions that should be immune from politics. But they don't understand that either.
3
You are repeating a falsity, which attacks our judicial system: "based upon the Steele Dossier". Verified or unverified, the FISA warrant on Page was not based up the Steele Dossier.
FISA warrants: Do you realize that a request for a warrant is 50 or more pages long? A judge wants to see probable cause, and most of that is verifiably gathered from reliable intelligence.
You are very subtle in your post.
4
The GOP will do anything, say anything in order to protect our dangerously incompetent, lying , know nothing, corrupt president. They will do anything to save their seats regardless of the harm they are doing to this country. It is only called treason by the GOP when pointing left.
10
With all the rallies, the tweeting, the golfing and "working" vacations, does anyone honestly think Trump is actually reading policy papers, briefing materials, etc. in order to keep himself informed as president of the United States?
Prior to reading the Nunes memo, Trump promised (on a hot mike) that he would 100% release it. He gave Bannon access to national security briefings by signing an Executive Order he (admittedly) had not read. His uninformed stance on his own party's immigration stance was recently exposed as he jumped from one position to another during his "negotiations" with Congress. More generally, Trump's spontaneous Tweets to the nation often lack consistency with prior messaging and all too often conflict with the simultaneous information coming out of his own Executive Branch; indicating that little time is spent actually forming a position.
My point is not about whether any particular Trump policy is, in and of itself, good or bad (that's another discussion). My point is that there is ample reason to believe the Trump presidency is an amateur, improvisational, fly-by-night operation. From national security to healthcare to foreign policy, Trump is a student faking his way through a book report.
38
What is truly disgraceful Is the the president's son in law cannot get a full Top Secret Clearance yet still has his job. What is truly disgraceful is this president's failure to punish Russia for it's cyber attack on the United States. What is truly disgraceful is his hated of immigrants and his love for the most Nationalistic far right hate groups in the country. What is truly disgraceful is this man's desire to be the absolute ruler or king. What is truly disgraceful is that this man is President of the United States of America.
83
Never has a comment made me feel so bad about the state of affairs of my country. After Trump's election we moved to Hawaii to be as far away from "Washington DC" as possible and still be in the US. Now we are wondering if we didn't move far enough away. What has happened to the country I served and love?
The Department of Justice must stay true to its name. When its name become mere euphemism, when it becomes a despot's weapon of vendetta instead of the people's beacon of fairness and accountability, we will have entered the ninth circle of Orwellian hell. Imagine what would have happened if President Obama had attacked Generals Holder or Lynch for referring a matter to the DOJ Inspector General because he or she had been a "Bush" guy. If it walks like a mobster and talks like a mobster . . . The DOJ is now the Alamo. Let's pray it doesn't fall. None of this is remotely normal.
7
"n Wednesday and called him “DISGRACEFUL” after "
Both trump and sessions are disgraceful for what they are trying to do to this country and it's laws.
6
So Trump's deflection strategy after yesterday's blow to golden-boy, Kushner about his NON-EXISTENT clearance being downgraded is to revert back to denigrating his own AG and the Justice Dept in hopes that relentlessly discrediting them will make all this go away...May I enlighten you Mr President? IT WON'T!
But do go ahead.Keep piling on confirmation of your blatant attempts at Obstruction. Tis only a matter of time!
Tick tock!...tick tock! (smirk)
8
@Jude Pacific Northwest
Like the person who comes home from work and beats up on the family and pets after being disparaged by the boss at work.
Take it out on others.
@W
Or perhaps a toddler mid-tantrum!
Cannot wait to see how this all ends.
I propose an alternative headline:
"Majority of Americans Call Trump's Handling of Office of the President "Disgraceful".
797
And that is putting it very mildly.
2
The man is unhinged. With Hicks moderating attempts gone, Trump's next effort will be to fire Sessions , followed by Mueller...no one can stand in the way of the "billionaire emperor""
A small majority, since nearly half of us are just fine with him according to polls.