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U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Resigns, as Requested by Donald Trump

posted by martyb on Thursday November 08 2018, @10:23AM   Printer-friendly
from the will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-priest^W-Attorney-General? dept.

We had two Soylentils submit stories about Attorney General Jeff Sessions:

Trump fires Attorney General Jeff Sessions

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46132348

"US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been fired by President Donald Trump.

[...] Mr Trump said Mr Sessions will be temporarily replaced by his chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, who has criticised the Russia inquiry.

[...] In a resignation letter, Mr Sessions - a former Alabama senator who was an early supporter of Mr Trump - made clear the decision to go was not his own.

[...] The president cannot directly fire the special counsel, whose investigation Mr Trump has repeatedly decried as a witch hunt. But Mr Sessions' replacement will have the power to fire Mr Mueller or end the inquiry.

[...] Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he looks forward to 'working with President Trump to find a confirmable, worthy successor so that we can start a new chapter at the Department of Justice'.

Mr Graham, of South Carolina, had said last year there would be 'holy hell to pay' if Mr Sessions was ever fired."

[...] House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said: "It is impossible to read Attorney General Sessions' firing as anything other than another blatant attempt by President Trump to undermine & end Special Counsel Mueller's investigation."

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Resigns

takyon writes:

Jeff Sessions is out. The new Acting Attorney General is Matthew G. Whitaker:

President Donald Trump on Wednesday fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "At your request I am submitting my resignation," Sessions wrote in a letter to White House chief of staff John Kelly.

Matthew Whitaker will take over as acting attorney general, the President said. Whitaker is expected to take charge of the Russia investigation and special counsel Robert Mueller from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Whitaker has been openly critical of Mueller and the investigation and Democrats immediately called on him to recuse himself, just as Sessions had.

Tweet.

See also: New acting A.G. criticized Mueller probe several times
What does Jeff Sessions's firing mean for Mueller and the Trump-Russia inquiry?

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Original Submission #1  Original Submission #2 

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 08 2018, @05:26PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 08 2018, @05:26PM (#759432)

    Trump could replace him with a real pit bull, but now that he doesn't have the House anymore he's going to have a tough time using him. Everything he does, whether plainly legal or not, is going to incite another House investigation.

    I don't think there will be a House investigation, at least not a very serious one and nothing more than a bargaining chip to encourage Trump to step up aggression against Iran, China, and Russia. After midterm elections, Democrats call for bipartisan unity with Trump [wsws.org]:

    During the campaign, the Democrats refused to even speak about Trump’s witch hunt against Central American asylum seekers, the erection of immigrant detention camps or the attack on birthright citizenship. In the midst of new moves by the administration in the direction of war with Russia, Iran and China—the withdrawal from the intermediate nuclear missile treaty, the imposition of savage sanctions against Iran and the escalation of trade war against China—they said nothing about the mounting war danger. They dropped their token opposition to Trump’s tax cuts for the rich.

    The result, hardly the much-vaunted “blue wave,” was what the Democratic Party wanted: An election that would allow Trump to consolidate his control while giving the Democrats more input. As the Democratic leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi, said in the run-up to the vote, control of the House would give the Democrats “leverage.” They intend to use that influence to pressure Trump to pursue a more aggressive confrontation with Russia and a wider war in Syria.

    US midterm vote: Democrats win control of House of Representatives [wsws.org]: "Trump reportedly called Pelosi shortly after her victory statement to congratulate her and discuss future relations between the White House and the Democratic-controlled House."

    Report Says Russia-gaters Should Go Quietly in the Night [consortiumnews.com]:

    In a new article titled “Mueller report PSA: Prepare for disappointment [politico.com]”, Politico cites information provided by defense attorneys and “more than 15 former government officials with investigation experience spanning Watergate to the 2016 election case” to warn everyone who’s been lighting candles at their Saint Mueller altars that their hopes of Trump being removed from office are about to be dashed to the floor.

    “While [Mueller is] under no deadline to complete his work, several sources tracking the investigation say the special counsel and his team appear eager to wrap up,” Politico reports.

    “The public, they say, shouldn’t expect a comprehensive and presidency-wrecking account of Kremlin meddling and alleged obstruction of justice by Trump?—not to mention an explanation of the myriad subplots that have bedeviled lawmakers, journalists and amateur Mueller sleuths,” the report also says, adding that details of the investigation may never even see the light of day. “It will be up to DOJ leaders to make the politically turbo-charged decision of whether to make Mueller’s report public,” Politico reported.

    So that’s it then. An obscene amount of noise and focus, a few indictments and process crime convictions which have nothing to do with Russian collusion, and this three-ring circus of propaganda and delusion is ready to call it a day.

    (More on the support of the party of the "Deporter-in-Chief" for Trump's immigration crackdown: At White House press conference, Trump calls reporter an “enemy of the people” [wsws.org]. That one also has coverage of Sessions' departure.)

  • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 08 2018, @05:42PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 08 2018, @05:42PM (#759442)

    Called Pelosi? He'd be safer french kissing a rabid bulldog. Or, sodomizing a king cobra. Or, being sodomized by a polar bear. Or, even standing on a street corner in Shitcago.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 08 2018, @07:30PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 08 2018, @07:30PM (#759484)

      Yes, yes, yes. Because, as we all know, the one thing Republicans are deathly afraid of it is getting Democrat cooties by even being seen to talk to a Democrat in public. *Sigh* When will this country return to sanity?

      • (Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Thursday November 08 2018, @07:41PM (1 child)

        by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 08 2018, @07:41PM (#759492) Journal

        If you know a path that leads there gracefully we'll all love to hear it :-p

        --
        В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды

        • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 09 2018, @02:10AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 09 2018, @02:10AM (#759656)

          I'd suggest lobotomies for Republicans, but clearly someone's beat me to it.

          The action, not the suggestion.

  • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Thursday November 08 2018, @10:28PM

    by Sulla (5173) on Thursday November 08 2018, @10:28PM (#759577) Journal

    Acosta is the only person in the media who I think is actually an enemy of the people. Acosta was yelling at Kim in the middle of the negotiations because he wanted a soundbite and could have seriously f'd things up.

    --
    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam