"An attorney general who doesn't follow the law is not very effective in leading the Department of Justice." Attorney General Jeff Sessions
August 2, 2017
By: Linda Case Gibbons
Donald Trump never had to ask him, but Jeff Sessions came running anyway.
Trump had a friend.
The senator donned a "Make America Great Again" hat, back in November, 2015, when nobody else would. He put his career on the line, for Donald Trump.
Hard to forget something like that, but it looks like Donald Trump has.
Now Trump is "disappointed" in Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III, for recusing himself from the Russian/Trump Campaign Investigation, and a bunch of other stuff, Hillary Clinton's crimes, intel leakers, yada, yada.
He's disappointed, but apparently won't tell Sessions face-to-face, man-to-man.
That's disappointing.
In an odd unburdening, to an equally odd, and hostile media, the president told The New York Times that Sessions' recusing himself was "very unfair to the president."
But it's The Donald who has it wrong. It is not the role of the U.S. attorney general to protect the president, nor to do the president's bidding.
That was former Attorney General Eric Holder's job.
Holder shamelessly politicized the Department of Justice, working hand-in-hand with President Obama to fuel the fires of racial hatred, dividing the country in a way that hasn't been seen since the Civil War.
When it came to white on black crime, Holder was all in. When the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups in advance of the 2012 election, Lois Lerner and the IRS were given a pass.
And it was Holder who gave then-Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez the green light to go after Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, launching three years of what can only be called harassment, that yielded nothing, simply because Arpaio was committed to enforcing federal immigration law.
And President Obama wasn't.
So if you're talking "disappointing," look in Webster's Dictionary and you'll find Eric Holder's name, right next to Loretta Lynch.
For some people, there is no high road. For Jeff Sessions there is.
Recently FOX News interviewed the attorney general, while he was in El Salvador to discuss MS-13, with top level law enforcement officials. When asked about President Trump's public speculation about firing him, Sessions said, "It has been kinda' hurtful."
But, he added, "I'm confident I made the right decision," referencing his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, kindly adding, "I understand the president's feelings about it, because this has been a big distraction for him."
He called the president a strong leader, who is determined to get his job done. "He wants all of us to do our jobs," Sessions said, "and that's what I intend to do.
"If he wants to make a change, he can certainly do so," Sessions told Tucker Carlson, "and I would be glad to yield in that circumstance, no doubt about it.
"I serve at the pleasure of the president. I've understood that from the day I took the job."
Back in June, Ian Prior, a Sessions' spokesman, explained the reason behind Sessions' decision. It focused on a DOJ regulation that prohibits DOJ attorneys from participating in investigations that involve "entities or individuals" with whom the person has a "political or personal relationship."
As part of Donald Trump's campaign team, it was ethically and technically appropriate for Sessions to make the decision he did, a view which is shared by Rudy Giuliani.
It makes sense, and President Trump is a sensible guy.
So I don't buy it that the president is doing what it looks like he's doing, and I think this is what really happened.
The president and attorney general probably sat down in the Oval Office, with a couple of bowls of ice cream, both with two scoops, and the president said, "You know what we should do, Jeff? We should make believe I'm mad at you, and you just keep on doing what you were going to do anyway as attorney general. Throw the dishonest media a bone to chew on!"
And then, with laughter ringing through the White House, ice cream spoons in hand, the two pals agreed to drive the media and Democrats and Special Counsel Mueller nuts.
It's the only thing that makes sense. Trump supporters trusted Trump in the past, so why would they doubt him now?
A man like Donald Trump would never endanger the friendship of a principled and loyal man like Jeff Sessions. Donald Trump has always prized the loyalty of others.
And, as we all know, loyalty is a two-way street.
Hold the line, America.