Attorney General Jeff Sessions has submitted his letter of resignation to the White House. “Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. President,” he closes.
Here is the letter.
“At your request, I am submitting my resignation.”
It is not dated.
Where this leaves the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller is anyone’s guess. This, as others have noted, is the moment of maximum danger for the probe.
From NPR:
Jeff Sessions, the president’s earliest and most fervent supporter in Congress, stepped down as attorney general Wednesday after brutal criticism from the president, bringing an abrupt end to his controversial tenure as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.
Sessions, 71, lasted not quite two years in the job. But in that brief period, the former Alabama senator managed to usher in a new era at the Justice Department.
Sessions threatened so-called sanctuary cities with the loss of federal funding and announced a “zero tolerance policy” for people who cross the southern U.S. border illegally.
He decried a looming wave of violent crime across the country, even though criminologists maintain murders and assaults remain near historic lows in most places.
He ordered federal prosecutors to seek the most serious charges and stiff prison sentences against drug criminals, a stark reversal of former President Barack Obama’s most prominent and bipartisan justice policy.
He presided over a rollback in investigations of local police. He rescinded policies that directed federal prosecutors to go after only the biggest cases involving marijuana in states where the drug is legal. And he recommitted to using private prisons for U.S. inmates and detainees.
I thought Trump was against removing Confederate monuments https://t.co/WSHoBqqfGl
— Orli Matlow (@HireMeImFunny) November 7, 2018
He clearly has to recuse himself. There is no way any fair-minded American could have confidence in him overseeing the investigation given his comments and the circumstances under which he was appointed. https://t.co/NY6FNfNv7E
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) November 7, 2018
Matt Whitaker the new acting Attorney General wrote an op-Ed for CNN in August titled "Mueller's investigation of Trump is going too far" https://t.co/UEBeMNzFw2
— David P Gelles (@gelles) November 7, 2018
The incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee https://t.co/FsZhzfikgl
— Jeremy Herb (@jeremyherb) November 7, 2018
Seems like the big question here is whether Bob Mueller goes public with a report and/or any more indictments before the expanded Republican majority confirms Jeff Sessions’ replacement as attorney general
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) November 7, 2018
literally hours after the midterms ended
the platonic ideal of petty pic.twitter.com/C54ji8D9mY
— rat king (@MikeIsaac) November 7, 2018
seems like a good idea to re-share this video i made of a sad beleaguered jeff sessions set to "mad world" pic.twitter.com/3UWo6qrrjm
— David Mack (@davidmackau) November 7, 2018
Will never forget that August 2015 rally in Mobile, Alabama where 30,000 people watched Jeff Sessions put on a Trump hat before other GOP lawmakers were willing to do so publicly.
There would be no President Trump without Jeff Sessions' early support.
— Eugene Scott (@Eugene_Scott) November 7, 2018
A look back at some of Trump's attacks on Jeff Sessions:
“Idiot” (5.17.17)
“Beleaguered” (7.24.17)
“VERY weak” (7.25.17)
“DISGRACEFUL” (2.28.18)
“If we had a real Attorney General” (8.14.18)
"never took control of the Justice Department" (8.23.18)— David P Gelles (@gelles) November 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/JamilSmith/status/1060260850806583296
Jeff Sessions did not date his resignation letter. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/uvYB6J4QQV
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) November 7, 2018
Here’s the column written in 2017 by Matthew Whitaker, the man @realDonaldTrump has named as acting AG. He said Mueller’s investigation had gone too far, and now there are bound to be questions whether he is fit to oversee the investigation. https://t.co/hvvLGIc79K
— Jessica Schneider (@SchneiderCNN) November 7, 2018
BREAKING: With an acting attorney general taking over after AG Sessions’ ouster, Deputy AG Rosenstein will no longer oversee the Mueller investigation, @PeteWilliams reports. pic.twitter.com/ZET8CRFUCA
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 7, 2018
Here's the moment Schumer spox @mattwhouse handed his boss a note during his press conference saying AG Sessions had just resigned.
Schumer: "Oh." pic.twitter.com/65Vix4PnIQ
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) November 7, 2018
Can Kris Kobach become Attorney General without first finishing his six hours of court-ordered legal training?
— Aaron Sankin (@ASankin) November 7, 2018
Our acting Attorney General thought an article by the great @EricColumbus was "worth a read." An article that states: "it’s quite likely Trump can install an attorney general who is able and willing to fire Mueller." Installation activated? https://t.co/X8dvbF5aHr
— Scott Rome (@Scott_H_Rome) November 7, 2018