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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Thursday, November 8, 2018 3A
Sessions out as AG
Trump, Dems deal
with new life under
Chief law officer in letter to president said he resigned at your request’
divided Congress
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BY ERIC TUCKER AND
MICHAEL BALSAMO
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Attor
ney General Jeff Sessions
was pushed out Wednes
day as the country’s chief
law enforcement officer
after enduring more than a
year of blistering and per
sonal attacks from Presi
dent Donald Trump over
his recusal from the Russia
investigation.
Trump announced in a
tweet he was naming Ses
sions’ chief of staff, Matthew
Whitaker, a former U.S.
attorney from Iowa, as act
ing attorney general. Whita
ker has criticized special
counsel Robert Mueller’s
investigation into potential
coordination between the
president’s Republican cam
paign and Russia.
Sessions, in a one-page
letter to Trump, said he was
resigning “at your request.”
The resignation was the cul
mination of a toxic relation
ship that frayed just weeks
into Sessions’ tumultuous
tenure, when he stepped
aside from the Mueller
investigation.
Trump blamed the
decision to recuse for the
appointment of Mueller,
who took over the Russia
investigation and began
examining whether Trump’s
hectoring of Sessions was
part of a broader effort to
stymie the probe.
Trump had repeatedly
been talked out of firing
Sessions until after the mid
terms but told confidants in
recent weeks that he wanted
Sessions out as soon as pos
sible after the elections,
according to a Republican
close to the White House
who was not authorized to
publicly discuss private
conversations.
White House chief of staff
John Kelly called Sessions
before the president’s news
conference Wednesday and
asked for his resignation.
Sessions’ undated resigna
tion letter was then sent to
the White House.
Asked whether Whitaker
would assume control over
Mueller’s investigation,
Justice Department spokes
woman Sarah Flores said
Whitaker would be “in
charge of all matters under
the purview of the Depart
ment of Justice.” The Jus
tice Department did not
announce a departure
for Deputy Attorney Gen
eral Rod Rosenstein, who
appointed Mueller and has
closely overseen his work.
Whitaker once opined
about a scenario in which
Trump could fire Sessions
and then appoint an acting
attorney general who could
stifle the funding of Mueller’s
probe. In that scenario, Muel
ler’s budget could be reduced
“so low that his investiga
tion grinds to almost a halt,”
Whitaker said during a July
2017 interview with CNN.
In an op-ed for CNN,
Whitaker wrote: “Mueller
has come up to a red line
in the Russia 2016 election
meddling investigation that
he is dangerously close to
crossing.”
Democrats, including
House Democratic leader
Nancy Pelosi and Sen
ate Democratic leader
Chuck Schumer, immedi
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ANDREW HARNIKI Associated Press
Attorney General Jeff Sessions accompanied by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein,
speaks at a news conference July 20, 2017, at the Justice Department in Washington.
to run for a second stint as
speaker when Democrats
take the House majority in
January, said the party has
“a responsibility to seek
common ground where
we can.” But she added,
“Where we cannot, we
must stand our ground.”
After midterm elections
that served as a referen
dum on Trump’s divisive
presidency, Congress and
the White House reckoned
Wednesday with expected
Republican gains
in the Senate and
a Democratic flip
of the House. The
early position
ing provided the
first glimpse of
how all parties
will balance calls
for bipartisanship
with an appetite
for anger going
into the next two
years.
By turns com
bative and con
ciliatory, Trump
said Democrats
and Republicans
should set aside
partisanship to
work together.
On legislative prospects,
Trump said he could
potentially work with
Democrats on issues such
as taxes, infrastructure
and health care, saying it
“really could be a beau
tiful, bipartisan type of
situation.”
And Pelosi, during a
news conference delayed
because of Trump’s
lengthy remarks, said she
had worked productively
with President George
W. Bush when she was
speaker a decade ago on
taxes and other issues, and
she welcomed the chance
to do so again with Trump.
“We’d like to work
together so our legislation
will be bipartisan,” she
said.
Still, Pelosi said Demo
crats weren’t elected to
be “a rubber stamp” for
Trump.
HISTORY CENTER
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mi war
Though gone from living
memory, the legacy of
World War I is still with
us in many ways. Please join the History Center
for the following programs and exhibits commemorating
the 100 year anniversary of the end of the Great War.
Special Exhibit
Over Here & Over There:
Georgia & Georgians in World War I
Now through January 12, 2019, included in regular
admission to the History Center
Family Day
The War to End All Wars
An educational and commemorative event that will take
place exactly 100 years after the actual day the war ended.
Join us in exploring this defining moment of the 20th
century with living history demonstrations, hands-on
activities, special exhibit/gallery tours, and performances.
November 11, 1-4 pm. Free admission to the public
courtesy of the Ada Mae Ivester Education Center
Forum
The Great War and the World it Made
Join a discussion and presentation at the History Center
that addresses the far-reaching effects of World War I on
today’s political, social, and economic climate.
November 13, 7 pm. $3 Admission, members get in free.
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322 Academy Street NE Gainesville, Georgia 30501
CHARLIE NEIBERGALLI Associated Press
Matt Whitaker was named by President Donald Trump as
acting attorney general Wednesday, after Attorney General
Jeff Sessions resigned.
ately called for Whitaker
to recuse himself from the
investigation, citing his pub
lic comments. Rep. Jerry
Nadler, the top Democrat
on the House Judiciary
Committee, said he wants
“answers immediately” and
tweeted that “we will hold
people accountable.”
Trump’s relentless
attacks on Sessions came
even though the Alabama
Republican was the first U.S.
senator to endorse Trump
and despite the fact that
his crime-fighting agenda
and priorities — particu
larly his hawkish immigra
tion enforcement policies
— largely mirrored the
president’s.
But the relationship was
irreparably damaged in
March 2017 when Sessions,
acknowledging previously
undisclosed meetings with
the Russian ambassador and
citing his work as a campaign
aide, recused himself from
the Russia investigation.
Trump repeatedly
lamented that he would
have never selected Sessions
if he had known the attorney
general would recuse him
self. The recusal left the
investigation in the hands of
Rosenstein, who appointed
Mueller two months later
after Trump fired then-FBI
Director James Comey.
The rift lingered, and
Sessions, despite praising
the president’s agenda and
hewing to his priorities,
never managed to return to
Trump’s good graces.
The deteriorating rela
tionship became a soap
opera stalemate for the
administration. Trump
belittled Sessions but, per
haps following the advice
of aides, didn’t fire him. Ses
sions, for his part, proved
determined to remain in the
position until dismissed. A
logjam broke when Repub
lican senators who had
backed Sessions signaled
a willingness to consider a
new attorney general.
In attacks delivered on
Twitter, in person and in
interviews, Trump called
Sessions weak and belea
guered, complained that he
wasn’t more aggressively
pursuing allegations of cor
ruption against Democratic
rival Hillary Clinton and
called it “disgraceful” that
Sessions wasn’t more serious
in scrutinizing the origins
of the Russia investigation
for possible law enforce
ment bias — even though
the attorney general did ask
the Justice Department’s
inspector general to exam
ine those claims.
Associated Press
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omIi decoh/
Trump
WASHINGTON — Sud
denly facing life under
divided government,
President Donald Trump
and congressional lead
ers talked bipartisan
ship Wednesday but then
bluntly previewed the
fault lines to come. Trump
threatened to go after
House Democrats who try
to investigate him, while
Rep. Nancy Pelosi said her
party would be
“a check and bal
ance” against the
White House.
The day after
midterm elections
reset Washing
ton, Trump took
a victory lap at
a raucous news
conference, cel
ebrating Repub
lican Senate wins
but distancing
himself from the
GOP’s loss of the
House. He said
he was interested
in working with
House Democrats
but was ready to
respond if he felt
he was being ill-treated.
As long as Republi
cans have controlled both
houses of Congress, Demo
crats have been hampered
in pursuing any significant
probes of Trump and his
administration, and he
made it clear he expects
the Senate to follow that
course.
“They can play that
game,” he said of possible
House Democratic inves
tigations, “but we can play
it better, because we have
a thing called the United
States Senate.”
On Capitol Hill, Repub
lican Senate leader Mitch
McConnell said Democrats
must decide how much
“harassment” they want
to pursue against Trump,
while suggesting there
could be limited opportuni
ties to work across the aisle.
And Pelosi, who is expected
Pelosi
