'At your request, I am submitting my resignation': US Attorney General Jeff Sessions quits
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has resigned, President Donald Trump has tweeted.
Mr Trump said: "We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well! A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date."
Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to the Attorney General at the Department of Justice, will become the US' new Acting Attorney General until a permanent replacement is nominated.
....We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well! A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2018
In his resignation letter, also released to social media, the out-going AG said: "At your request, I am submitting my resignation."
Mr Sessions added that in his time as AG, he and President Trump had "restored and upheld the rule of law - a glorious tradition that each of us has a responsibility to safeguard".
Sessions:
— erica orden (@eorden) November 7, 2018
"Dear Mr. President,
At your request, I am submitting my resignation." pic.twitter.com/DwRXh5joPF
The resignation was the culmination of a toxic relationship that frayed just weeks into Mr Sessions’ tumultuous tenure, when he stepped aside from the investigation into potential co-ordination between the president’s campaign and Russia.
Mr Trump blamed the decision for opening the door to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, who took over the Russia investigation and began examining whether Mr Trump’s hectoring of Mr Sessions was part of a broader effort to obstruct justice and stymie the probe.
The Justice Department did not announce a departure for deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mr Mueller more than a year-and-a-half ago and has closely overseen his work since then.
Trump is ending the Mueller investigation right before our eyes and if you expect the Republicans to do anything about it you have been sleepwalking through the last two years
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) November 7, 2018
The relentless attacks on Mr Sessions came even though the Alabama Republican was the first US senator to endorse Mr Trump and despite the fact that his crime-fighting agenda and priorities – particularly his hawkish immigration enforcement policies – largely mirrored the president’s.
But the relationship was irreparably damaged in March 2017 when Mr Sessions, acknowledging previously undisclosed meetings with the Russian ambassador and citing his work as a campaign aide, recused himself from the Russia investigation.
The decision infuriated Mr Trump, who repeatedly lamented that he would have never selected Mr Sessions if he had known the attorney general would recuse.
The rift lingered for the duration of Mr Sessions’ tenure, and the attorney general, despite praising the president’s agenda, never managed to return to Mr Trump’s good graces.
The deteriorating relationship became a soap opera stalemate for the administration. Mr Trump belittled Mr Sessions but, perhaps following the advice of aides, held off on firing him.
The attorney general, for his part, proved determined to remain in the position until dismissed. A logjam broke when Republican senators who had publicly backed Mr Sessions began signalling a willingness to consider a replacement.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017
Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2018
..This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2018
In attacks delivered on Twitter, in person and in interviews, Mr Trump called Mr Sessions weak and beleaguered, complained that he was not more aggressively pursuing allegations of corruption against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and called it “disgraceful” that Mr Sessions was not more serious in scrutinising the origins of the Russia investigation for possible law enforcement bias – even though the attorney general did ask the Justice Department’s inspector general to look into those claims.
The broadsides escalated in recent months, with Mr Trump telling a television interviewer that Mr Sessions “had never had control” of the Justice Department and snidely accusing him on Twitter of not protecting Republican interests by allowing two Republican congressmen to be indicted before the election.
