Trump Just Accidentally Strengthened the Case for Sessions’ Recusal

When a Twitter attack backfires.

Alex Edelman/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

President Donald Trump again expressed regret about appointing Jeff Sessions as his attorney general, claiming in a Tuesday morning tweet that had he known Sessions would eventually recuse himself from overseeing the ongoing Russia investigation, he would have “quickly picked someone else.” 

In declaring that Sessions “knew better than most” regarding questions of collusion, Trump underscored the argument that Sessions’ recusal was in fact wholly appropriate by suggesting he had firsthand knowledge of events relevant to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Trump’s tweet also seemed to suggest that under any other attorney general, there would be no investigation into ties between Russia and his campaign, businesses, or administration.

It’s the latest attack by Trump since Sessions announced his recusal from all investigations related to the 2016 presidential campaign in May 2017—a commitment he appears to have violated on numerous occasions. The president has insulted Sessions’ decision as “disgraceful” and “very unfair to the president” and privately berated him in meetings.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump also raised questions about the Justice Department’s inspector general report into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, insinuating that the fact the report has not yet been released indicates it is being edited to cover up “horrible things” done by his 2016 presidential rival and former FBI Director James Comey. The report is expected to be released any day.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate