It’s been clear for a while now that Donald Trump never forgave Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation. But how bizarre is it to see a POTUS take to Twitter to berate his own attorney general and call his actions “disgraceful?”
Far be it from me to have Jeff Sessions’s back. The whole idea that anyone would be investigating FISA abuse for surveillance on Carter Page is just another example of this administration conjuring up conspiracy theories and using our justice system to investigate opponents. That is what qualifies as disgraceful. But it is what Trump has been demanding for a while now. He is simply using the fact that it will be the inspector general doing the investigation as a way to continue punishing Sessions for the original sin of disloyalty via recusal.
Sessions responded to Trump’s tweet with this statement:
“We have initiated the appropriate process that will ensure complaints against this Department will be fully and fairly acted upon if necessary,” Sessions said in a statement. “As long as I am the Attorney General, I will continue to discharge my duties with integrity and honor, and this Department will continue to do its work in a fair and impartial manner according to the law and Constitution.”
What I find a bit amusing about all of this is that Trump’s personal animosity towards Sessions means that he broke the pattern of relying on Fox News for his latest outrage. Following the attorney general’s announcement about the IG investigation on Tuesday, Sean Hannity was leading the cheering squad about the news during his opening monologue that night. It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that Trump sent out the above tweet. Oops, that might be the only time we’ll see any daylight between Hannity and Trump. I’m sure the former will correct the record right away.
Another person who is determined to not allow any daylight between himself and Donald Trump is Jerry Falwell, Jr. He is willing to defend the indefensible, even if it means throwing Jeff Sessions under the bus, putting the bus in reverse, and running over him again.
I couldn’t agree more. @USAGSessions must be part of the Bush/Romney/McCain Republican Establishment. He probably supported @realDonaldTrump early in campaign to hide who he really is. Or he could just be a coward. https://t.co/9D1ppRTSyp
— Jerry Falwell (@JerryFalwellJr) February 28, 2018
Wow! I don’t feel an ounce of sympathy for Sessions, but that is brutal.
I suspect that all of this is a mirror into the internecine battles we keep reading about that go on inside this White House. We have a president who revels in that sort of thing.
