Weekly Standard "Is Jeff Sessions on his way out? That would be a reasonable interpretation of White House press secretary Sean Spicer's cautious response to a question during Tuesday's press briefing. Asked whether President Donald Trump still has "confidence" in his attorney general, Spicer said, "I have not had that discussion with him."
"Then there's a report Tuesday evening from ABC News claiming that Sessions spoke with the president about offering his resignation in "recent weeks— which the New York Times confirmed. (Trump, Maggie Haberman reports, declined to accept Sessions's resignation.) That offer reportedly came as tensions have grown between Trump and Sessions. The Times previously reported a growing discontent between the two men stemming from the attorney general's decision to recuse himself from the FBI's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. That investigation has since been taken up by a special counsel, Robert Mueller, at the request of Sessions's deputy, Rod Rosenstein.
"A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on the ABC report, referring to it as a "palace intrigue story." But the issues are more serious than office gossip, particularly if another Tuesday Times scoop—that former FBI director James Comey told Sessions in February he did not want to be left alone with the president—is true. A Sessions resignation, just weeks after Trump fired Comey, would raise more questions about whether the president tried to quell any investigation into Russian meddling.
"All of which suggests that Sessions possibly won't be leaving after all." . . .
"Then there's a report Tuesday evening from ABC News claiming that Sessions spoke with the president about offering his resignation in "recent weeks— which the New York Times confirmed. (Trump, Maggie Haberman reports, declined to accept Sessions's resignation.) That offer reportedly came as tensions have grown between Trump and Sessions. The Times previously reported a growing discontent between the two men stemming from the attorney general's decision to recuse himself from the FBI's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. That investigation has since been taken up by a special counsel, Robert Mueller, at the request of Sessions's deputy, Rod Rosenstein.
"A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on the ABC report, referring to it as a "palace intrigue story." But the issues are more serious than office gossip, particularly if another Tuesday Times scoop—that former FBI director James Comey told Sessions in February he did not want to be left alone with the president—is true. A Sessions resignation, just weeks after Trump fired Comey, would raise more questions about whether the president tried to quell any investigation into Russian meddling.
"All of which suggests that Sessions possibly won't be leaving after all." . . .
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