Sessions in the Hot Seat: Robert Mueller Gets His First Crack at the Attorney General

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. pauses as he speaks to media at Trump Tower in New York, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

How did this one slip past us?

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was called up and had his time sitting with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, to be questioned in the ongoing Russia probe, last week.

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For legal counsel, Sessions chose to be accompanied by Washington lawyer Chuck Cooper.

From the Washington Examiner:

Department of Justice Spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores confirmed the interview occurred in response to questions from The New York Times.

Sessions announced in March 2017 he recused himself from all matters related to the 2016 election — including the Justice Department’s investigation into the 2016 election — after it was revealed he failed to tell Congress during his confirmation hearing he met twice with the Russian ambassador to the United States twice during the presidential campaign when he was an adviser to the Trump campaign.

The attorney general and former Alabama senator was with Mueller’s team for several hours, and it’s probably a fair guess to say much of that time was spent discussing the thought process leading up to the eventual firing of FBI Director James Comey.

Not that Comey shouldn’t have been fired. It’s just that he should have been fired Day One. He botched the Clinton email scandal so horribly that no other reason was necessary.

For some reason, President Trump, who had danced to the chants of “Lock her up!” while on the campaign trail, but quickly backtracked and deemed Clinton a “good person” who had been through enough after he was elected, didn’t see Comey’s handling of that email case as particularly troubling.

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Four months and several private meetings between Trump and Comey later, Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein crafted letters recommending Comey’s firing for that purpose.

H.R. McMaster was even trotted out to say Comey had been fired because of how he handled the Clinton email scandal.

Then, of course, Trump went on national television and told NBC’s Lester Holt that he fired Comey because of the “Russia thing,” effectively blowing all the cover his people were trying to give him.

And I’ll never understand why Trump’s defenders get so upset when you point out things he’s admitted to, himself.

Sessions’ recusal from all things Russia-related put Rosenstein in charge. He promptly brought in Robert Mueller to lead an investigation into Russian interference and any possible collusion or obstruction by the Trump team.

Mueller was roundly praised by both Democrats and Republicans, until it appeared he was actually serious about his assignment and had clamped down like a dog with a bone.

That’s about the time Trump loyalists (some of the same ones that had previously praised him for his upstanding character and professionalism) did a complete turn to the opposite direction and deemed Mueller the devil incarnate.

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Trump’s reaction was the predictable hissy fit, and numerous tirades against Sessions, who he felt would be his cover, should anything hinky arise.

Sessions, crestfallen over losing the love of his benefactor, offered to resign, but Trump rejected the offer. He needs a whipping boy, after all.

He has since began to make moves that he hopes will win back that loving feeling, by using the DOJ to respond to whatever nutty tweet Trump taps out during his morning “executive time.”

Sessions could get ahead of the rush by watching Fox News and taking his cues straight from there.

 

 

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