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| Attorney General Jeff Sessions |
Earlier today, Donald Trump issued a twitter rant at his own Attorney General Jeff Sessions after Sessions' announcement that he will ask the inspector general of the Department of Justice to look into allegations of government surveillance abuse.
Trump went ballistic tweeting:
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. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!
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. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2018
After months of being a public punching bag for Trump, Sessions has issued a rare public response to the attack this morning which called him “disgraceful” for his handling of the FISA warrants issue.
Via press release from the Department Of Justice:
“We have initiated the appropriate process that will ensure complaints against this Department will be fully and fairly acted upon if necessary. As long as I am the Attorney General, I will continue to discharge my duties with integrity and honor, and this Department will continue to do its work in a fair and impartial manner according to the law and Constitution.” – Jeff Sessions.
In spite of Trump's tirade, Congressional Republicans stood by the decision and Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina and current chairman of the House Oversight Committee, lauded Horowitz on Wednesday saying he has been “fair, fact centric, and appropriately confidential with his work.”
“I have complete confidence in him and hope he is given the time, the resources and the independence to complete his work,” Mr. Gowdy said.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also signaled his support for Mr. Horowitz.
More from the Twitterverse (and these are serious-minded people, folks):
Trump’s tweet attacking Sessions also unfairly smeared DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, a serious and respected investigator. Horowitz is not Sessions’ “employee” but one would expect the AG to object when a disrespectful politician hurls an unjustified attack at DOJ’s IG. https://t.co/kBWsYfoIDE— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) February 28, 2018
He wants political appointees to prosecute FBI officials for lawfully getting FISA surveillance warrants to watch persons who collaborated with Russian agents. He does not trust an independent Inspector General, but wants political hacks to go after his own FBI. Abuse of power. https://t.co/mLlgPvSGEk— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) February 28, 2018
And these are Republicans over at Fox News:
This is Trump at his worst. He is asking that the DOJ investigate itself. The inspector general, who has his own staff of lawyers and investigators, at least enjoys a measure of independence from the department. Trump still wants the AG to act his political goalie. https://t.co/KhAZ4VDmIz— Brit Hume (@brithume) February 28, 2018
.@KarlRove on Trump tweet about AG Sessions: "If you want to be successful as president, you got to step back, be the adult, absorb some of these little blows and keep focus on the big things. And the big thing is not to attack the Inspector General as quote 'an Obama-guy.'" pic.twitter.com/i5v8qumTaw— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) February 28, 2018
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