Washington US President Donald Trump on Saturday continued his criticism of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, hinting he is getting ready to fire the former senator.
Many believe Sessions’ removal would result in the firing of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian influence in the 2016 US presidential election. Trump has been implicated by those investigations.
Trump tweeted that Sessions “doesn’t understand what is happening” in the Department of Justice (DOJ).
He quickly followed with a second tweet quoting South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, which stated: “I believe every President has a right to their Cabinet, these are not lifetime appointments.”
Graham on Thursday said he believes Trump would fire Sessions, but warned him not to do so until after the November mid-term elections.
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse on Thursday also criticised any attempt to remove Sessions.
It was the third day of fighting between the two, which started when Trump blasted Sessions on Fox News, accusing him of failing to take control of the DOJ.
Sessions on Thursday released a statement on Twitter saying the DOJ would not be “improperly influenced by political considerations.”
Damaging week
The feud follows a very damaging week for the president.
Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was convicted on eight felony charges of tax and bank fraud, and Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to charges he paid money to cover-up affairs the President had with a porn star and a Playboy model. In his plea, Cohen directly implicated Trump in the cover-up.
Both Manafort’s conviction and Cohen pleas were both a direct result of Mueller’s investigation.
If Jeff Sessions is fired as US Attorney General, if would be the second time Trump has removed the Justice Department’s top official.
Trump previously removed Sally Yates, who was Acting Attorney General for 10 days in January, 2017.
Many are comparing the Trump-Sessions fight to events in 1973, when Attorney General Elliot Richardson resigned when he was ordered to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, who was investing the Watergate scandal.
Nixon then order Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox, but he too resigned.
Nixon then called on Robert Bork, who was third in command at the Department of Justice, who did fire Cox.
This double firing became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre”.
The negative publicity prompted the US Congress to begin looking at Articles of Impeachment. Rather than face impeachment, Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974.
