This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Donald Trump's vision of a Justice Department that serves Donald Trump instead of the cause of justice is horribly askew. But it is quintessentially Trumpian, and therefore unsurprising.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions should know better. After the president questioned his judgment and competence in an interview Wednesday with The New York Times — and said Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the FBI's Russia investigation was "extremely unfair" — Sessions was asked for comment. "We wholeheartedly join in the priorities of President Trump," he said.
What a disappointing answer. The attorney general does, of course, serve at the pleasure of the president. But he swears an oath to the Constitution. And the FBI has strict rules to protect its investigations from political interference, from the president or anyone else.
Trump also suggested in his interview that he would fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller if he gets too nosy about the Trump family's financial ties with Russia. (Mueller's office, which is investigating the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, quickly let it be known that the family's ties to Russia were part of his investigation.) Trump also said the sworn Senate testimony of former FBI Director James Comey was "loaded up with lies."
Does Sessions wholeheartedly join the president in those views?
Sessions made the obvious, necessary and correct call when he recused himself from his department's Russia investigation. He himself was part of the campaign and over the course of it met the Russian ambassador at least twice. But given Trump's extraordinary comments, Sessions has to do more than merely recite platitudes about how much he loves his job.
Two years ago, when he was still a senator, Sessions had some advice for a nominee for deputy attorney general. "You have to watch out, because people will be asking you do to things you just need to say no about," he said. He then asked a question he might well put to himself now: "Do you think the attorney general has the responsibility to say no to the president if he asks for something that's improper?"
Now that he is attorney general — and has stated he does not intend to resign — Sessions needs to tell the public his views on the appropriate relationship between the Justice Department and the White House. Six months into the Trump administration, the answer is anything but clear.