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There has been perhaps no more maligned Trump administration official than Attorney General Jeff Sessions who has been smeared as a racist by the left and earned the ire of his boss for his underwhelming job performance.
The former Senator from Alabama was a surprise pick for the spot as the nation’s top law enforcement official but his early support of Trump on the campaign trail ended up with him getting the job.
Sessions then underwent a thorough pummeling from the usual suspects during his confirmation hearing but eventually passed muster and checked into the AG’s office – right before he checked out.
Stunning the president, Sessions nearly immediately recused himself from any matters related to allegations that Trump colluded with the Kremlin and all but turned the Justice Department over to Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein who shortly thereafter appoint special counsel Robert Mueller and give him a sweeping mandate to find “evidence” on Trump.
Sessions’ disappearing act from everything with the exception of waging war on weed and cracking down on immigration earned him Trump’s ire and the POTUS has repeatedly taken to Twitter to criticize the absentee AG as speculation mounted over whether he would be fired or quit.
The day of reckoning may be coming if a report in the Wall Street Journal can be believed that Trump is now mulling a list of potential replacements.
Trump's discussion of potential replacements for Jeff Sessions signals for the first time that the president is envisioning what his administration might look like without the current attorney general. https://t.co/3JkC7xTmB5— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 12, 2018
President Trump is reportedly considering Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, among others, to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions.The Wall Street Journal reported that Transportation Department general counsel Steven Bradbury, retired Judge Janice Rogers Brown and former Attorney General Bill Barr, who served under former President George W. Bush, are also being considered.Some White House officials noted to the Journal that there are no plans currently in place to force Sessions out of his job. They added that while Trump has lashed out at Sessions with growing regularity, he has rarely discussed who might replace him.The Journal reported that Sessions does not plan to leave, but expects he may be asked to resign.
Additional details from the WSJ, “Trump Is Mulling Candidates Who Could Succeed Jeff Sessions”:
The five either didn’t return calls seeking comment or declined to comment.The president has spoken openly, and often sharply, about his desire to replace Mr. Sessions and his regret over installing the former Alabama senator as the nation’s top lawyer. While Mr. Trump has spent more than a year undercutting his attorney general, he has rarely spoken about successors, according to White House officials and people familiar with his thinking.His discussion of these candidates represents a shift, signaling for the first time that Mr. Trump is envisioning what his administration might look like without Mr. Sessions in the cabinet.Some White House officials and Trump allies urged caution about the president’s deliberations. For one thing, Mr. Sessions remains in his job, and there are no finalized plans to remove him from the position, even after the November congressional elections.Expectations in the West Wing and at the Justice Department are that Mr. Sessions will step down, officials said.Mr. Sessions isn’t currently planning to leave, but privately has said that he anticipates he may be asked to resign, according to people familiar with the matter. The attorney general, who was the first senator to endorse Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign, has told people the request may come on the president’s Twitter feed.“This is actually the dumbest thing I’ve been asked to comment on in a while,” said Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Flores.A spokesperson for Mr. Trump declined to comment.
There are two big reasons to question the story.
First, the timing is highly suspect and will provide Democrats and the media with plenty of fodder to accuse Trump of obstructing justice only weeks away from the critical midterm elections.
Secondly, the WSJ’s sources for the story are once again anonymous as they are identified as “according to White House officials and outside advisers” which will quickly be pointed out by skeptics who question the pattern of leaks to the media that are all damaging to Trump.
If Sessions is on his way out it will only make the elections even more important as any replacement would likely face the same type of bludgeoning from Senate Dems that was inflicted upon Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and could sink any nominee if they gain seats in the upper chamber.
The same Democrats who previously smeared Sessions as a racist will soon become his biggest defenders.
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