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| ‘I Don’t Have an Attorney General,’ Trump Says in a New Attack on Sessions | ‘I Don’t Have an Attorney General,’ Trump Says in a New Attack on Sessions |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Tuesday that he does not have an attorney general, escalating his public war with his top law enforcement official, Jeff Sessions. | |
| “I don’t have an attorney general,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper. “It’s very sad.” | |
| On Wednesday morning, the president reversed himself. | |
| “We have an attorney general,” he said, responding to reporters’ questions as he departed the White House to visit storm-struck North Carolina. “I’m disappointed in the attorney general for many reasons.” | |
| The president has directly shamed Mr. Sessions for more than a year, calling him weak and disloyal after Mr. Sessions recused himself in March 2017 from overseeing the Russia investigation — a sprawling inquiry that has cast a shadow over Mr. Trump’s time in office. | The president has directly shamed Mr. Sessions for more than a year, calling him weak and disloyal after Mr. Sessions recused himself in March 2017 from overseeing the Russia investigation — a sprawling inquiry that has cast a shadow over Mr. Trump’s time in office. |
| In his interview with The Hill, Mr. Trump said his disappointment in Mr. Sessions extended beyond his lack of involvement in the Russia investigation to immigration, an issue on which both men share a hard-line view. | |
| “I’m not happy at the border, I’m not happy with numerous things, not just this,” Mr. Trump said in the interview. | “I’m not happy at the border, I’m not happy with numerous things, not just this,” Mr. Trump said in the interview. |
| Mr. Trump’s harsh statement comes just days after he ordered the declassification of records related to the Russia investigation. That inquiry is overseen by the deputy attorney general who appointed a special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, to lead it. Mr. Trump has said repeatedly that he expected Mr. Sessions to protect him from the investigation, which has resulted in convictions and guilty pleas from the president’s former aides. | |
| Mr. Trump recently told Bloomberg News that he would not fire Mr. Sessions before the midterm elections in November. | Mr. Trump recently told Bloomberg News that he would not fire Mr. Sessions before the midterm elections in November. |
| Should Mr. Trump decide to fire Mr. Sessions, it is not likely that the Senate would be able to confirm a new attorney general before then. |