Our live coverage of Jeff Sessions’ firing is concluding for now, but stick with CNN Politics as we sort through the latest news.
Mitt Romney, 2012 Republican presidential nominee and Utah Senator-elect, tweeted Wednesday: “I want to thank Jeff Sessions for his service to our country as Attorney General. Under Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, it is imperative that the important work of the Justice Department continues, and that the Mueller investigation proceeds to its conclusion unimpeded.”
Earlier this year CNN asked Romney about the Mueller investigation, and he warned that Congress would need to take action if Trump ever moved toward removing Mueller.
“I do not believe for a moment that President Trump will remove Mueller,” Romney said earlier this year. “If he does remove Mueller, I believe that Congress will reappoint him, and the most effective way to keep the investigation intact is for congressional leaders to make it clear to the President that if (Mueller) were removed by the executive branch, he would be rehired by the legislative branch. I presume that communication has happened already.”
“I believe it’s appropriate for the rule of law to proceed to reach the conclusion of this investigation — hopefully sooner rather than later,” Romney said earlier this year when asked whether he still has confidence in Mueller.
While Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will no longer oversee the Russia investigation, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions privately believed that Rosenstein has handled the investigation properly after it was dropped “right in his lap,” according to a source familiar with Sessions’ thinking.
“[Rosenstein is] a professional, he’s tried to do the right thing and he’s handled it as well as anybody could,” the source said of Sessions’ views on the matter.
However, the source said that Sessions himself has been frustrated that Mueller’s investigation has not yet concluded, but DOJ officials have “tried to do the right thing every day and not be involved in arguing the case in the media.”
The insider described Sessions being “at peace” with the decision he made on recusal and having no regrets about taking the job as attorney general. Sessions hopes that he will be remembered for upholding the “integrity and core responsibilities of the Department of Justice,” the source said.
The source wouldn’t rule out Sessions running for his old Senate seat in Alabama in 2020 against Sen. Doug Jones, demurring to say he “wasn’t focused on it … it’s two years off.”
As acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker will be able to reject requests — such as for more funding or for subpoenas — from the special counsel’s office.
Two sources, one close to Whitaker and one White House official, suggested Whitaker could use this authority as a potential way to reign in special counsel Robert Mueller without firing him outright, should he choose to do so, although his plans for handling the Russia investigation are unclear.
The White House source said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein did not expect to be given the acting attorney general position that instead went to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ chief of staff.
Rosenstein had told friends over the last several months he wanted to stay at the Department of Justice to protect the Russia probe. Now that it has been taken out of his hands with the appointment of a new acting attorney general who has oversight of the Russia probe, his future at DOJ remains unclear.
Trump and Whitaker had discussed him taking over the role previously, sources say, and Trump views Whitaker as a loyalist.
Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions was one of the earliest supporters of President Donald Trump, but over time their relationship became strained. After Sessions recused himself from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump campaign associates colluded with Russia, Trump’s attitude toward Sessions appeared to change.
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker says he is committed to “leading a fair department with the highest ethical standards.”
In a statement tonight, Whitaker also called departing AG Jeff Sessions a “man of integrity.”
Read Whitaker’s statement below:
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker wrote an op-ed in 2016 saying he would indict former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
FBI Director James Comey announced in July of 2016 that he would not recommend charges against former Secretary of State Clinton over her use of private email servers, and said, “Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.”
In a USA Today op-ed titled “I would indict Hillary Clinton: Opposing view,” Whitaker wrote he disagreed with Comey’s judgement.
Whitaker, who was then employed as executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, wrote that Clinton’s emails contained information that was “classified at the time it was sent or received, of which eight email chains contained information that was top secret at the time it was sent.”
He also said the “facts show it was gross negligence” when Clinton used a personal email system and therefore “removed the information from State Department security.”
“A reasonable prosecutor may ask, if on numerous occasions, an unknown State Department employee had taken top secret information from a secured system, emailed that information on a Gmail account, and stored the information on a personal server for years, would that individual be prosecuted?” Whitaker wrote, “I believe they would.”
Ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions left the Justice Department tonight while staff, including political appointees, waved goodbye. He exited through the department’s courtyard to applause.
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker shook his hand.
Sessions said thank you to the crowd before getting in his vehicle.
Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions wanted to try to stay until the end of the week, but White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told him no. Kelly was very firm it had to be today, according to administration officials.
A White House spokesman declined to comment on the subject.
The resignation letter submitted by Sessions today is not the old resignation letter that the former attorney general previously offered and President Trump rejected, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.
There is no secret meaning to the fact that the letter is undated, the source says, adding, things were simply moving fast.
President Donald Trump’s decision to fire his attorney general just one day after the midterm elections appears to have surprised some White House staff, despite the widespread understanding among Trump’s aides that the move would occur relatively soon after the midterms.
“It definitely caught a lot of us off guard today,” said one White House official.
The swift removal of Sessions came just hours after the President sparred with the media as he tried to put a positive spin on his party’s loss of more than two dozen House seats. Cable news coverage quickly shifted from Republican defeats to Sessions’ firing.
“There goes the midterms news cycle,” one Trump ally said when asked about the timing of the ouster.
A White House aide noted that with so few days left on the legislative calendar this year and so much other business to wrap up, the confirmation process for whoever replaces Sessions permanently very likely won’t get started until next year — when Republicans will have an expanded majority to ease the path for the next attorney general.
House Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff tweeted Wednesday afternoon following Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ resignation.
Read his tweet:
Justice Department employees have not yet been officially notified of Jeff Sessions’ ouster, nor of Whitaker being named acting attorney general, sources within the Justice Department tell CNN.
Department employees, including US attorneys, are learning about Sessions’ firing from news reports and President Donald Trump’s tweets, according to sources within the department.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to recuse himself from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential Russian collusion.
“It is impossible to read Attorney General Sessions’ firing as anything other than another blatant attempt by @realDonaldTrump to undermine & end Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation,” Pelosi tweeted Wednesday.
“Given his record of threats to undermine & weaken the Russia investigation,” Pelosi tweeted Wednesday, “Matthew Whitaker should recuse himself from any involvement in Mueller’s investigation. Congress must take immediate action to protect the rule of law and integrity of the investigation.”
Matthew Whitaker, who is replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is now in charge of all Department of Justice matters, the agency’s spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said.
Why this matters: Whitaker is now in charge of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Whitaker’s role could be reviewed by ethics officials. He could ultimately decide to recuse himself based on his past writings and comments related to the Russia probe on the advice of career ethics officials at the Justice Department.
Additionally, Whitaker doesn’t need to be sworn in today because he took an oath when he became Sessions’ chief of staff, according to a Justice Department official.
Sen. Mark Warner, the Senate Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, urged lawmakers from all parties to support special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, following Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ firing.
In a statement, Warner called on all lawmakers to “speak out now and deliver a clear message to the President that the special counsel’s investigation must continue without interference.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thanked Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service following his resignation on Wednesday.
Sessions previously served as a Republican senator from Alabama before joining the Trump administration.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to be at the White House around 4 p.m. ET for a previously scheduled meeting, according to a Justice Department official.
Earlier this afternoon, Trump announced that Matthew Whitaker will take over as acting attorney general, the President said.
Whitaker is expected to take charge of the Russia investigation and special counsel Robert Mueller from Rosenstein.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has called on new acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to recuse himself from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.
Here’s what Schumer said:
After President Donald Trump announced Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned on Wednesday, Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder said any interference into special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation “is a red line.”
“Anyone who attempts to interfere with or obstruct the Mueller inquiry must be held accountable. This is a red line. We are a nation of laws and norms not subject to the self interested actions of one man,” Holder said.
Sessions’ acting replacement, Matthew Whitaker, has previously said he thinks the Mueller probe has gone too far.
Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, who is slated to steer the House Judiciary Committee, took to Twitter this afternoon to demand answers on Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ firing.
“Why is the President making this change and who has authority over Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation?” Nadler asked.
He added: “We will be holding people accountable.”
Read Nadler’s tweet:
