The house cleaning has begin. Donald Trump has fired his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. From The New York Times:
“President Trump forced out Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday, ending a partnership that soured almost from the start of the administration and degenerated into one of the most acrimonious public standoffs between a commander in chief and a senior cabinet member in modern American history.”
THREAD: What should we make of Trump’s firing of Jeff Sessions? https://t.co/jQ9uyzxNO2
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) November 7, 2018
Senator minority leader Chuck Schumer found out about Sessions during a news conference. This was his reaction.
“Oh,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says in first hearing about the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “Protecting Mueller and his investigation is paramount. It would create a constitutional crisis” pic.twitter.com/7L8acOfU0B
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 7, 2018
Trump didn’t waste any time moving this crisis along either. He quick announced a Trump loyalist would be acting Attorney General.
We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States. He will serve our Country well….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2018
So what does that mean for the Mueller investigation? Is Rod Rosenstein no longer in charge of it? It appears that would now be under the purview of Matthew Whitaker.
Trump is ending the Mueller investigation right before our eyes and if you expect the Republicans to do anything about it you have been sleepwalking through the last two years
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) November 7, 2018
Witness this op-ed piece written by Whitaker that said the Mueller investigation had gone too far.
Before being hired by Sessions, Whitaker wrote an op-ed saying the Mueller probe had gone too far https://t.co/G0iMKLJinJ
— Jeremy Herb (@jeremyherb) November 7, 2018
wow — here's the new Acting AG Matthew Whitaker on CNN last year w/ @ChrisCuomo saying, "[Rosenstein] needs to step in and pull the reigns back on Bob Mueller if he starts to go outside of the bounds of his delegation of authority," adding Trump Org finances are a bridge too far pic.twitter.com/KMtceK9umt
— J.D. Durkin (@jiveDurkey) November 7, 2018