Donald Trump reportedly lashed out at Attorney General Jeff Sessions in May following the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is now overseeing an aggressive investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.
According to new reporting in The New York Times, the erratic president fumed at Sessions in a private Oval Office meeting, calling him an “idiot” and demanding his resignation.
More from the Times:
Shortly after learning in May that a special counsel had been appointed to investigate links between his campaign associates and Russia, President Trump berated Attorney General Jeff Sessions in an Oval Office meeting and said he should resign, according to current and former administration officials and others briefed on the matter.
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The president blamed the appointment of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, on Mr. Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s Russia investigation — a move Mr. Trump believes was the moment his administration effectively lost control over the inquiry. Accusing Mr. Sessions of “disloyalty,” Mr. Trump unleashed a string of insults on his attorney general.
Sessions was reportedly so upset by the lashing Trump gave him that he sent a letter of resignation to the White House and called the Oval Office episode “the most humiliating experience in decades of public life.”
The New York Times noted that Trump ultimately took the advice of his staff and turned down Sessions’ offer to resign, but – in typical Trump fashion – changed his mind just a couple months later.
“Mr. Trump once again, in July, told aides he wanted to remove Mr. Sessions, but for a second time didn’t take action,” the Times reported.
Trump’s behavior behind closed doors is indicative of the man we already knew – a guy who will berate and demean anybody who doesn’t kiss his ring. But it’s also evidence that the president doesn’t like the direction in which the increasingly serious Russia investigation is going.
When Sessions recused himself and a special counsel was appointed, he panicked and the attorney general became his punching bag.
With reports indicating that special counsel Robert Mueller is “going for the kill,” Donald Trump may indeed have a reason to be nervous.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
