President Trump escalated his feud with Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a series of tweets Friday morning, saying the country was “waiting” for Sessions to “look into all of the corruption on the ‘other side.'”
Seemingly applauding Sessions facetiously for his statement Thursday, in which the attorney general insisted the “Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations,” Trump then called on Sessions to investigate a series of political opponents.
“Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the ‘other side’ including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr, FISA abuse, Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier, the Clinton Foundation, illegal surveillance of Trump Campaign, Russian collusion by Dems – and so much more,” Trump wrote. “Open up the papers & documents without redaction? Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!”
“Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.” Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the “other side” including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018
….FISA abuse, Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier, the Clinton Foundation, illegal surveillance of Trump Campaign, Russian collusion by Dems – and so much more. Open up the papers & documents without redaction? Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018
Contrary to Trump’s belief, most of these targets have either already been investigated, are still under investigation, or are completely wild conspiracy theories for which there is nothing to investigate. For example, the Inspector General’s report on Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails came out in June, but it actually showed that James Comey was unfair to Clinton, and although it exposed the personal political beliefs of former FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, it also stated those opinions had no undue political influence on the investigation.
The Steele dossier, too, contains information that has largely stood the test of time. As Fox News’ Shepard Smith said just last week, “None of the dossier, to Fox News’ knowledge, has been disproven.”
Conflict between Sessions and Trump, while not new, reignited earlier this week when Trump targeted him in the wake of Tuesday’s surge of news about Paul Manafort’s guilty verdicts and Michael Cohen’s guilty pleas. Trump continues to despise the fact that Sessions insists on impartiality — having recused himself from the Russia investigation — and in an interview with Fox & Friends‘ Ainsley Earhardt Thursday, he alluded to the possibility of firing him.
Trump has repeatedly called on Sessions to end the ongoing Russia investigation, calling it a partisan witch-hunt, despite the fact that many of the people in charge of the investigation are Republican. He also raged against the attorney general when reports suggested Sessions was himself a witness in the investigation. The feud dates back more than year; in July of 2017, Trump similarly complained that Sessions had not done enough to investigate Hillary Clinton.
If Trump follows through on his threats to fire Sessions, it could mirror the so-called “Saturday Night Massacre,” in which President Nixon forced the resignation of both his attorney general and deputy attorney general in his attempt to shut down the Watergate investigation.