White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was noncommittal Thursday about whether President Trump intends to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as tension between the two men reached a new level this week.
Asked whether Trump wants to get rid of his attorney general, Sanders told reporters: “Not that I know of.”
“The president has made his frustrations very clear,” she later added.
Trump slammed Sessions in a tweet on Wednesday for after he asked the Justice Department’s Inspector General, who was appointed by President Obama, to investigate allegations of FISA abuses inside both the agency and the FBI. Several Republicans have asked Sessions to instead appoint a second special counsel to look into the accusations.
“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,” Trump wrote. “Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!”
Sessions fired back in a statement that described his decision as being in line with “the appropriate process that will ensure complaints against [the Justice Department] will be fully and fairly acted upon if necessary.” The top law enforcement official was then spotted dining Wednesday evening with his deputy Rod Rosenstein and Solicitor General Noel Francisco, a move some suggested was meant to send a message to Trump.
Sessions and Trump were both slated to attend an opioids event at the White House on Thursday afternoon.
