Trump talked with Jeff Sessions's own chief of staff about replacing him as attorney general
Source: Washington Post
President Trump talked recently with Jeff Sessionss own chief of staff about replacing Sessions as attorney general, according to people briefed on the conversation, signaling that the president remains keenly interested in ousting his top law enforcement official.
The conversation between Trump and Matthew G. Whitaker was somewhat nebulous, the people said. It was not clear, for example, whether Whitaker would take over on an interim basis or be nominated in a more permanent capacity, or how definitive the presidents intentions were.
On a long list of indignities that Sessions has endured from his boss, Trumps discussing replacing him with his own top aide stands out. Trump has wanted to fire Sessions ever since he recused himself from what is now the special counsels investigation into whether Russia coordinated with the Trump campaign to influence the 2016 election. He has berated his attorney general publicly and privately, and recently told Hill.TV, I dont have an attorney general.
Sessions, meanwhile, has dutifully sought to implement Trumps agenda, even as it has become clear his relationship with the president is damaged beyond repair.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-talked-with-jeff-sessionss-own-chief-of-staff-about-replacing-him-as-attorney-general/2018/10/10/e010211c-ccc5-11e8-a3e6-44daa3d35ede_story.html?utm_term=.2eadd331371c&wpisrc=al_politics__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1
Me.
(35,454 posts)after all that crawling?
Athenapallas
(52 posts)1of 2 things
Massive blue waves happen and Trump and the Republicans attempt something crazy.
Or
Republicans actually end up holding power and just do something bold like allowing Trump to fire Mueller. Either way I took off work election day and the day after.
wishstar
(5,267 posts)WASHINGTON Convinced that the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, was ready to resign after the revelation that he suggested President Trump was unfit for the job, senior White House aides got to work last weekend installing a replacement.
Matthew G. Whitaker, the chief of staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, would become the acting No. 2 official at the Justice Department, his White House counterpart, John F. Kelly, told him over the phone on Saturday morning, according to two people briefed on the call. To the White House, he was an obvious choice: a confident former college football player and United States attorney whom Mr. Kelly has privately described as the West Wings eyes and ears in a department the president has long considered at war with him.
By late Monday morning, the plan was moot. Mr. Rosenstein was no longer committed to resigning, at least without assurances he was doing so on amicable terms with the president. Mr. Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he was open to keeping Mr. Rosenstein in place, and two White House officials said they believed he was likely to remain in his job at least through the midterm elections.
But the arrangements to promote Mr. Whitaker show how White House aides seized on the days of uncertainty about Mr. Rosenstein to try to place a trusted loyalist at the top of a department whose traditional independence has long frustrated the president. Mr. Rosenstein has incurred Mr. Trumps wrath because he appointed a special counsel for the Russia investigation, though thanks to complex department rules, Mr. Whitaker would not assume control of the inquiry if he ever replaces Mr. Rosenstein.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/us/politics/matthew-whitaker-justice-department.html
getagrip_already
(14,256 posts)Then he will make a recess appointment with the help of McConnell.
Recess appointments don't require hearings or confirmation votes for 2 years. He will have dismantled the investigations long before that.
They are just waiting till the day after the midterms. McConnell will conveniently let the senate go into recess; something they wouldn't allow under obamma. Then mushroom head can name anyone he wants without having to worry about confirmation os succession.
Thats why he is ignoring rosenstein for now. He doesn't care any more.