3/1/2018
Attorney General Jeff Sessions pushed back against President Donald Trump’s latest insult on Wednesday, after again being publicly humiliated by him.
Still consumed by the ongoing Russian investigation, Trump fumed over issues raised by the Republican memo, issues debunked by the release of the Democratic version. Sessions recused himself from the Russian investigation long ago, but the President has either forgotten this fact, or still resents the Attorney General for doing so.
Trump bashed Sessions over an investigation into alleged surveillance abuses, calling his approach “disgraceful” in one of his many tweets.
Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2018
The attorney general responded in a statement that the Justice Department “initiated the appropriate process that will ensure complaints against this department will be fully and fairly acted upon if necessary.”
“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,” Sessions said.
Sessions chose to respond to the President because his latest jab was more “in the weeds” and about process, said a source familiar with Sessions’ thinking.
Previous times, Trump has insulted Sessions when calling for the investigation of Hillary Clinton, but this time he called for Sessions to go after Justice Department attorneys, which was a bridge too far, said the source.
“There is a process, we are following that process,” the source added.
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