The day after the midterm elections, Donald Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions and appointed Trump loyalist Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general. Whitaker, who has criticized the Mueller probe in the past, could fire Robert Mueller or defang his investigation.
Although Sessions was faithfully carrying out Trump’s draconian agenda on civil rights, immigration and policing, the president had Sessions in his sights since the latter recused himself from the Russia investigation in March 2017. Sessions’s recusal resulted from his failure to disclose at his confirmation hearing that he met with Russian officials when he was a Trump campaign adviser in 2016. The recusal paved the way for the appointment of Mueller as special counsel by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in May 2017.
Champing at the bit to fire Sessions, Trump was convinced by his advisers to wait until after the midterms to avoid harming GOP candidates.
Sessions’s recusal infuriated Trump because it resulted in Rosenstein appointing Mueller as special counsel. Mueller has been methodically following his mandate to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump” and “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”
So far, Mueller’s probe has produced criminal charges against 32 individuals, including 26 Russians, and four close Trump aides have entered guilty pleas.
Whitaker Will Try to Defang Mueller Without Firing Him
An official from the Justice Department told The Washington Post that Whitaker would replace Rosenstein as the decision-making authority over Mueller’s investigation.
But Whitaker has a likely conflict of interest that could be examined by Justice Department ethics advisers who may pressure him to recuse himself. Whitaker has criticized the Mueller probe on…