Trump 'disappointed' in attorney general
Ref. NG/046AIn late July 2017, President Donald Trump escalated a public campaign of criticism against his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions. The attacks, delivered through media interviews and social media, centered on Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
In an interview with The New York Times the previous week, the president had stated that he would never have appointed Sessions to the post had he known the former Alabama senator would step aside from the Russia inquiry. This public expression of regret marked a significant and unusual break with a sitting member of his cabinet.
Pressure Over Recusal and Investigations
President Trump’s criticism went beyond the recusal. In a series of tweets, he questioned why Sessions had not taken a harder line on investigating his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, over her use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State. The president specifically targeted the attorney general for not replacing Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.
Trump’s tweet claimed McCabe had a conflict of interest because his wife’s political campaign had received donations from allies of Clinton. The president also berated Sessions for what he described as a weak position on pursuing the source of intelligence leaks from within the government, a persistent source of frustration for the administration.
A Departure from Presidential Norms
The sustained, public nature of the censure was widely noted as a departure from typical White House conduct. Presidents have historically handled disagreements with cabinet secretaries privately to project an image of stability and avoid publicly undermining their own appointees. The decision to air these grievances openly was seen by many observers as a strategy to either pressure Sessions into resigning or to lay the groundwork for his dismissal.
Sessions had been one of the first sitting senators to endorse Trump’s 2016 campaign, and his subsequent appointment was seen as a reward for his loyalty. The public rift was therefore all the more striking. According to reports from the time, Sessions indicated he had no intention of resigning his post.
Response from Republican Lawmakers
The president’s actions prompted a defense of the attorney general from several Republican senators, many of whom had served with Sessions for years. This marked a rare instance of prominent party members publicly breaking with the president. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah told reporters he was surprised by the president’s comments and expressed his support for Sessions.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina issued a more direct warning, stating that there would be “holy hell to pay” if Trump fired Sessions. Graham also cautioned that any attempt to remove Robert Mueller, the special counsel appointed to oversee the Russia investigation after Sessions’s recusal, would represent “the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency.”
Some legal experts, such as Richard Painter, who served as an ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, argued that the president’s public call for his political rival to be prosecuted constituted a serious abuse of power. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed on July 26 that Sessions had been at the White House for meetings that day but did not meet with the president.
Questions about this record
What was the main reason President Trump was angry with Attorney General Sessions?
The president's primary stated grievance was Sessions's decision in March 2017 to recuse himself from any investigation related to the 2016 presidential campaign, including the inquiry into Russian interference. Trump told The New York Times he would not have appointed Sessions if he had known about the recusal in advance, as it paved the way for the appointment of a special counsel.
How did other Republicans in Washington react to the situation?
Several prominent Republican senators, many of whom were former colleagues of Sessions, publicly defended him. Senator Lindsey Graham issued a strong warning against firing either Sessions or Special Counsel Robert Mueller. This reaction was notable because many Republicans had previously been reluctant to openly criticize President Trump's actions or statements.
Did Jeff Sessions resign after the president's public criticism?
No, at the time of these events in July 2017, Jeff Sessions did not resign. It was reported that he was determined to stay in his role as attorney general despite the intense public pressure from the president. Sessions would ultimately remain in the post for more than another year before resigning at the president's request in November 2018.
Why was it considered unusual for a president to criticize a cabinet member so openly?
It broke with a long-standing political norm in which presidents handle disputes with their cabinet secretaries in private. Public criticism can undermine the authority of the official and the department they lead, creating an appearance of chaos within an administration. The use of interviews and social media to attack a sitting attorney general was seen as a significant departure from this tradition.