Sean Spicer Won't Say If Trump Has Confidence In Jeff Sessions
- 7 years ago
White House press secretary Sean Spicer would not say if President Trump still has confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer would not say if President Trump still has confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Spicer was asked about it during a press briefing on Tuesday, and he said, “I have not had a discussion with him about that.”
After he was pressed about not being able to say if the president has confidence in his attorney general, Spicer explained, “I said I have not had a discussion with him on the question...If I haven’t had a discussion with him about a subject, I tend not to speak about it.”
These questions came on the heels of a recent New York Times report which states that “Trump has grown sour on [Jeff] Sessions, now his attorney general, blaming him for various troubles that have plagued the White House.”
In fact, the president lashed out at the agency Sessions oversees, tweeting on Monday, “The Justice Dept. should have stayed with the original Travel Ban, not the watered down, politically correct version they submitted to S.C.”
And a short time later, he wrote, “The Justice Dept. should ask for an expedited hearing of the watered down Travel Ban before the Supreme Court - & seek much tougher version!”
Aside from these messages, the Times writes, “In private, the president’s exasperation has been even sharper.”
Inside sources have reportedly indicated that Trump’s anger has been festering since Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation; the president is said to believe the move made it easier for a special counsel to ultimately oversee the matter.
However, a critical Washington Post report points out that “Trump appears worryingly unable to contemplate his own role in bringing about the special counsel.”
The publication also suggests that like Trump’s anger at former FBI Director James Comey, his reported displeasure with Sessions may have to do with a lack of loyalty he showed by recusing himself against the president’s wishes.
Meanwhile, Matthew Miller, a former communications director for the Justice Department, recently claimed on MSNBC that Trump’s reaction may have had to do with an attempted cover up.
Miller said, “Why would the president care if Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russian investigation or not unless he wanted him to exert inappropriate influence over it. It shouldn’t really matter who’s leading the investigation unless you want the person in charge to somehow steer it in a way that benefits you.”
But retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz has said the conflict may be more business than personal for Trump; Dershowitz told the Times, “I see this more as a client complaining about his lawyer. The lawyer in this case happens to be Jeff Sessions.”
White House press secretary Sean Spicer would not say if President Trump still has confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Spicer was asked about it during a press briefing on Tuesday, and he said, “I have not had a discussion with him about that.”
After he was pressed about not being able to say if the president has confidence in his attorney general, Spicer explained, “I said I have not had a discussion with him on the question...If I haven’t had a discussion with him about a subject, I tend not to speak about it.”
These questions came on the heels of a recent New York Times report which states that “Trump has grown sour on [Jeff] Sessions, now his attorney general, blaming him for various troubles that have plagued the White House.”
In fact, the president lashed out at the agency Sessions oversees, tweeting on Monday, “The Justice Dept. should have stayed with the original Travel Ban, not the watered down, politically correct version they submitted to S.C.”
And a short time later, he wrote, “The Justice Dept. should ask for an expedited hearing of the watered down Travel Ban before the Supreme Court - & seek much tougher version!”
Aside from these messages, the Times writes, “In private, the president’s exasperation has been even sharper.”
Inside sources have reportedly indicated that Trump’s anger has been festering since Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation; the president is said to believe the move made it easier for a special counsel to ultimately oversee the matter.
However, a critical Washington Post report points out that “Trump appears worryingly unable to contemplate his own role in bringing about the special counsel.”
The publication also suggests that like Trump’s anger at former FBI Director James Comey, his reported displeasure with Sessions may have to do with a lack of loyalty he showed by recusing himself against the president’s wishes.
Meanwhile, Matthew Miller, a former communications director for the Justice Department, recently claimed on MSNBC that Trump’s reaction may have had to do with an attempted cover up.
Miller said, “Why would the president care if Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russian investigation or not unless he wanted him to exert inappropriate influence over it. It shouldn’t really matter who’s leading the investigation unless you want the person in charge to somehow steer it in a way that benefits you.”
But retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz has said the conflict may be more business than personal for Trump; Dershowitz told the Times, “I see this more as a client complaining about his lawyer. The lawyer in this case happens to be Jeff Sessions.”