July 28, 2017

Sessions vs. Trump

What in the world is going on with Trump publicly trashing his attorney general?

What in the world is going on with Trump publicly trashing his attorney general?

Sessions was the first name-brand legislator to endorse Trump, has been one of his most loyal supporters, and by most accounts has been doing a fine job at Justice, thank you very much. The two main supposed Trump rationales, improper recusal and failure to go after team Hillary, don’t add up. Sessions had perfectly good reasons for recusing himself once it became clear that the investigation was focused on possible Trump/Russia collusion during the election. He was intimately involved in the campaign, so the potential conflict was an obvious trigger of the recusal section of the Justice Department handbook. And it was Trump himself who did a 180 and took Hillary off the hook after the election.

A firestorm of speculation has been set off. The assertion of the media, Dems and even some GOP senators is that Trump is simply nuts. He is not. The smartest guys in the room have more involved tactical explanations. He wants Sessions to quit so he can appoint someone who would fire Mueller; he wants to set the stage for a recess appointment; he wants to cow Sessions into investigating Hillary and/or firing Mueller himself; he wants Sessions to “unrecuse” himself until there is a criminal aspect to Mueller’s work; and many variations on the theme.

But these don’t pass the head-scratching test either. Trump doesn’t need an excuse to fire Sessions, and the recusal has been around for months, so why would it all of a sudden become an issue? True, Trump has good reason to be frustrated at the continuing Russian probe. First because the special counsel appointment was bogus since there was no crime alleged, and now because the probe is expanding (as they all do) into areas that have zero to do with possible Russian meddling, like Trump business in Russia 20 years ago. And evidence of more blatant Clinton-Russian involvement is being ignored. But trashing Sessions does not logically follow.

The high probability answer has to do with who/what Trump is. He is at heart a clever negotiator, a deal guy, and one of the best media savvy manipulators around. Consider what the responses have been. Sessions’ GOP legislative colleagues have leaped to his defense. Understandable, if a tad over the top. But the reaction of the Dems and the media has been priceless. Now that he seems to be in Trump’s crosshairs, Sessions has magically morphed from a bigoted red neck with a Star/Bar middle name with Klan connections who has a complete lack of respect for the Rule of Law into a principled American hero of courage and integrity.

Trump has not only masterfully put the Dems and the media in a box — it would be the height of hypocrisy to flip flop again on Sessions if he were to open a probe of the Clintons — but he has communicated through the media with Sessions what investigations he would like to see initiated without having any direct fingerprints on it. It’s Trump’s way of negotiating with all parties and manipulating a gullible press desperate for anything anti-Trump into doing his bidding.

Sessions has no intention of quitting, and Trump has no intention of firing him; they are in this together. You can argue that the tactic of bashing his AG in public was a bit over the top, but it has served its purpose. Sessions is preparing to launch the probes that Trump wants, and the charade of public scolding has endeared Sessions to an opposition that will have a tough time protesting. Negotiation via the press, and media manipulation at its best.

Bill Wagner is a private investor in and advisor to early stage companies.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.