A Politico report on Wednesday speculated Attorney General Jeff Sessions was close to being fired because President Trump made fun of his southern accent and Alabama education, however questions are now arising over the veracity of their reporting.
The article, written by Eliana Johnson and Elana Schor, relied entirely on anonymous sources in the form of “aides” to make the controversial assertions.
Politico claims “Trump has come to resent” Sessions, “griping to aides and lawmakers that the attorney general doesn’t have the Ivy League pedigree the president prefers, that he can’t stand his Southern accent and that Sessions isn’t a capable defender of the president on television — in part because he ‘talks like he has marbles in his mouth,’ the president has told aides.”
Trump also mocks Sessions’ degree from University of Alabama rather than an Ivy League law school. https://t.co/qWZAeXRUYy
— David Frum (@davidfrum) August 30, 2018
Sessions still has the crucial backing of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who told reporters Tuesday, “I have total confidence in the attorney general; I think he ought to stay exactly where he is.”
Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), the second-highest ranking Republican in the Senate, has joined Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) in making public statements of support for Sessions in recent days.
Thursday, Bloomberg confirmed in an interview with the president that Sessions’ job is safe — at least until the midterm elections in November.
“I just would love to have him do a great job,” Trump added in the interview.
Trump, since March of 2017, has repeatedly called Sessions out for recusing himself from the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Sessions’ recusal was followed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointing Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee what has turned into a wide-ranging probe, including whether people around Trump conspired with the Russians and whether the president attempted to obstruct justice.
Trump has also criticized Sessions as “weak” for failing to aggressively pursue Republican allegations of bias against the president in the Justice Department and FBI.
Sessions’ inability to “control” his department was “a regrettable thing,” Trump said in an interview last week with Fox News.
Sessions responded to criticism directly for the first time, saying, “While I am attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.”
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
