Here’s the Dilemma Jeff Sessions Faces as He Considers Appointing a Special Counsel
By The Federalist. As momentum builds for Jeff Sessions to appoint a second Special Counsel to investigate potential surveillance abuse by the Obama administration, the law-and-order attorney general faces a dilemma: How to launch a wide-ranging probe in the mold of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia, when federal regulations provide for only a narrow and limited use of a special counsel.
The pressure on Sessions escalated last week when Bob Goodlatte, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, and Trey Gowdy, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent him a joint-letter requesting he appoint a special counsel. The suggested scope for the requested investigation is broad.
Goodlatte and Gowdy asked for a review of decisions by the Justice Department and the FBI in 2016 and 2017, including “evidence of bias” by any federal employees or agencies involved in the investigation of Russian election meddling, indictment decisions, and whether the fall 2016 FISA process was undertaken appropriately and “devoid of extraneous influence.” . . .
Their request followed a tweet from President Trump lambasting Sessions for referring an investigation into potential FISA abuse to the Inspector General of the Justice Department. Trump called the move “disgraceful,” and 13 congressmen led by Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin requested Sessions appoint a special counsel instead . . .
Sessions sidestepped the Zeldin letter, but couldn’t ignore the letter from Goodlatte and Gowdy, given their influence as powerful committee chairmen. In response to the second March letter, he acknowledged he was “seriously” weighing the possibility of appointing a second special counsel to investigate the Obama administration according to their concerns. (Read more from “Here’s the Dilemma Jeff Sessions Faces as He Considers Appointing a Special Counsel” HERE)
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Trump May Be Floating a Plan to Fire Jeff Sessions
By Business Insider. President Donald Trump has been formulating a plan to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Vanity Fair reported on Wednesday.
Sessions has been a target of Trump’s ire since he recused himself last March from the FBI’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 US election, following reports that he was not forthcoming during his Senate confirmation hearing about his contacts with Russian officials during the campaign.
Sessions’ recusal is a key point of frustration for Trump, who once reportedly asked why he couldn’t order “my guys” at the “Trump Justice Department” to do what he wanted.
When the Russia investigation began picking up steam last summer, so did Trump’s attacks on his hand-picked attorney general, whom he called “weak” and “beleaguered” in a string of tweets. (Read more from “Trump May Be Floating a Plan to Fire Jeff Sessions” HERE)
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