US Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s job security is in question after taking withering fire from fellow Republicans this week, including from two prominent House conservatives who called on him to resign.
Two leaders of the House Freedom Caucus, Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan, called on Sessions to step aside in an op-ed on Friday, charging he has lost control of the Department of Justice and the FBI, The Hill reported.
Trump reiterated his frustration with Sessions in a recent interview, again criticizing his decision to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
“I thought it was certainly unnecessary, I thought it was a terrible thing,” Trump told The New York Times.
A new report this week revealed the lengths to which Trump went to keep Sessions from turning over the Russia probe to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
The president took the unusual step of sending White House counsel Don McGahn to lobby Sessions against recusal, according to The Times. Sessions told McGahn his mind was made up, saying he had been advised to do so by other officials in the Justice Department.
The recusal has become a sore spot in the relationship between Trump and Sessions. The president reportedly blames his attorney general for the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel, a move that was made by Rosenstein.
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