The Executive Tea

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The Complicated Relationship between Trump and Sessions

By: Kayla Pasacreta

It is being constantly reported that tensions between President Trump and the Department of Justice head,Jeff Sessions, have been rising. Trump made this clear a few days with his tweet critiquing The Department of Justice, saying, “The Justice Dept. should have stayed with the original Travel Ban, not the watered down, politically correct version they submitted to S.C.” Being that Trump is the Commander-in-Chief it is a bit odd for him to take to Twitter to critique the head of one of the departments he has control over.

The Russia Investigation has been cited as the major source of tension for Trump and Sessions. After it was reported that Jeff Sessions did not disclose his dealings with Russian officials on his security clearance form and said during his Senate confirmation hearing that he had no communications with Russia (even though he did), Sessions recused himself from the investigation. This came after much heat and claims of perjury by Sessions for not being fully honest with the Senate and the American people.

Recusal definition: to remove one’s self from a position of authority – in this case, Sessions removed his right to be involved in the Russia investigation, as many saw it as inappropriate considering he was not honest about his dealings with Russia

Pictured are Trump and Sessions. Photo via CNN.com

What makes this story interesting is that Trump reportedly took great issue with Sessions recusing himself from the Russia probe. In Trump’s statement after Sessions’ recusal, he stated, “Jeff Sessions is an honest man. He did not say anything wrong…The Democrats are overplaying their hand. They lost the election and now, they have lost their grip on reality. The real story is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total witch hunt!” Trump has a pattern of taking an issue with any admission of wrongdoing, making it unsurprising that he took issue with Sessions' admission of guilt. Since his recusal, Trump and Sessions have had constant clashes – even resulting in Sessions threatening to quit. Sessions isn't the only one in the Trump Administration who has had problems with Trump - now fired FBI Director Comey is said to have told Sessions, "Don't leave me alone with Trump."

We’ll keep you posted with updates on Trump and Sessions. If Sessions really were to resign, that would be a major blow to the constantly imploding Trump administration.