The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff Reports

Posted: Monday, January 01, 2018 12:28 PM

OUR VIEW: Sessions Has No One To Blame For Hot Water He's In But Himself

The latest from President Trump's twitter feed just this morning was rather pointed and left little room to doubt that Mr. Sessions may need clear out his old resume and soon:
 

"Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton’s crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!" I may be correcting 45 here.
 

Then in a follow up tweet: "The problem is that the acting head of the FBI & the person in charge of the Hillary investigation, Andrew McCabe, got $700,000 from H for wife!"
 

President Trump left the fate of Sessions up in the air during a press conference Tuesday afternoon, saying he's "disappointed" with his Cabinet member while stopping short of saying whether he'll fire the country's top cop. “We will see what happens,” Trump said in the White House Rose Garden. “Time will tell.”

The president has publicly vented his frustration at Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation. “He should not have recused himself almost immediately after he took office, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me prior to taking office, and I would have, quite simply, picked somebody else,” Trump said. “So I think that’s a bad thing, not for the president but for the presidency.”

Trump also slammed Sessions for not being tough enough on leaks from intelligence agencies.

“These are intelligence agencies,” Trump said. “We cannot have that. I told you before that I am very disappointed with the attorney general but we will see what happens.”

In addition, Trump tore into the attorney general regarding Hillary Clinton calling the former Alabama senator “VERY weak” on Clinton’s criminal behavior.

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.) said Tuesday on Fox News that President Donald Trump's tweets seem to put the AG in a precarious position adding that Sessions made the right decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation but that he could have communicated better with the president.

"It doesn't look great," the lawmaker said when host Bill Hemmer asked if Sessions is in trouble. "I have not talked to him about it. The tweets are not helpful for long-term employment. That is between him and the president."

"Jeff Sessions made the right decision in recusing himself, and I also understand the president's frustration at the decisions and actions that Attorney General Sessions [made] that led him having to recuse himself," Gowdy added. "That is where my focus is: The president is frustrated that he picked an attorney general that had to recuse himself."

"The recusal was based on the attorney general's failure to recall some meetings," the congressman said. "So that's what the recusal was based on. The recusal was appropriate, but I do understand the president's frustration."

Hemmer asked if it would have been appropriate for Sessions to tell Trump he would need to recuse himself, and Gowdy answered, "Sure, absolutely."

"All of us who have applied for jobs get asked that question: ‘Is there anything in your background that I should know about?'" the South Carolina Republican added.

Gowdy said that Sessions would have done well to tell the president about his meetings with the Russian ambassador during the 2016 campaign. He said that it is more useful to have these conversations immediately but that Sessions has had to recall them later.

"The attorney general forgot about some of these contacts; that's what led to the recusal," Gowdy said. "It's his bad memory."

The problem with all of this is that Session and Special Counsel Robert Mueller are inextricably linked, as Sessions’ recusal from the Russia investigation cleared the way for Mueller to be appointed as special counsel. There is a good chance had Session remained on watch instead of recusing himself, the Russian "witch hunt," which it is, would long be done and over.

That is a reasonable expectation from anyone hiring an individual to lead the top law enforcement agency and institution in the nation! Session is the one who failed to disclose his meetings with a Russian ambassador - no matter how innocent it was at the time.

In an interview with Hugh Hewitt Tuesday, Trump’s new communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Hewitt was “probably right” when he said it seems clear Trump wants Sessions gone. “I have an enormous amount of respect for the attorney general, but I do know the President pretty well and if there’s this level of tension in the relationship, that public, you’re probably right,” Scaramucci said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, asked by reporters Tuesday if he was concerned Trump would fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and replace him with someone who would fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller, said it’s up to the president who keeps their job in the executive branch.

President Donald Trump, Ryan said, “determines who is hired and fired in the executive branch… That’s his prerogative. If he has concerns or questions or problems with the attorney general, I’m sure he’ll bring them up with him himself.”

Ryan also expressed little concern about the potential of Trump removing Mueller, who is investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, which has yielded absolutely NO evidence and even caused Mueller to start delving into areas into which he has no business like the President's personal finances.

That's a sign Mueller has no where to go so he feels the need to get "something" he can appease the rabid Democratic Party hacks still peddling false stories and baseless narratives. “Look,” Ryan told reporters, “The president gets to decide what his personnel are.” He’s the executive branch, we’re the legislative branch.”

And Ryan IS RIGHT! The legislative branch merely acts as an important check and balance on the executive branch and vice versa along with the judicial branch.

Minutes after Ryan’s comments, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) released a statement praising Sessions and pushing back against Trump’s early morning tweets.

“President Trump’s tweet today suggesting Attorney General Sessions pursue prosecution of a former political rival is highly inappropriate,” the statement said. “Prosecutorial decisions should be based on applying facts to the law without a hint of political motivation.”

We can always count on Lindsey to come to the defense of the Clintons and the Democrats for sure. My statement to Lindsey and others is simple:

If the facts "to the law" had been followed in 2016, Hillary Clinton would be in orange and white right now getting $4.50 per speech to the jailhouse lunch gang at the closest federal prison to her home.

That's the rub that will not go away!

Sessions HAS had more than enough proof Clinton and her husband Bill peddled influence for money through the Clinton Foundation in a criminal manner, yet has done NOTHING to pursue an investigation against them. In addition, 33,000 emails that were under CONGRESSIONAL subpoena got destroyed with Bleach Bit and cell phones with vital national security information got hammered to death - all with impunity!

While Session has sat on the sidelines doing nothing about this, President Trump's detractors and enemies have made political hay over phantom Russian-collusion claims while the Clinton crime syndicate and all their cronies have laughed behind closed doors that they have gotten away with murder. Pardon the pun.

I may be in a minority here but I am 1000% behind the sentiments of President Trump concerning the AG. He is weak and needs to go. He did this to himself. If he's not going to act like an attorney general and pursue JUSTICE - even when it may be politically risky since anytime one deals with putting Hillary Clinton behind bars the media and entire world screams sexism.

If Sessions don't have the cojones to do that - get someone in there who does.

President Trump may have his problems communicating sometime and in the way he expresses himself as President. However, in this case, I personally believe the communication about Jeff Sessions is right on target. The AG works at the behest of the President, not Congress or any other institution.

It is part of the EXECUTIVE branch of government and the one running it needs to be strong and resolute - for ALL!

This will get messy without a doubt. Grab the popcorn and get ready for the Dems and Republicans alike to scream bloody murder and that Trump is subverting justice if Session goes. We don't see it that way. Sessions brought this on himself and he needs to go. If I'm Donald Trump tonight, I'm on the phone to a former New York Mayor named Rudy Giuliani and saying "Rudy, I need you in DC and fast."
 

Christopher McDonald, Publisher, Editor in Charge

Great Smoky Mountain Journal